The Camp Jupiter Chronicles: The Son of Jupiter
by nyotaauhura
Summary: Everyone knows of Percy's adventures at Camp Half-Blood, but we know nothing of Jason's beginnings at Camp Jupiter, the place he spent twelve years of his life. From arrival to being made praetor, follow Jason's story as he goes through the highs, the lows and maybe some girl trouble with a certain daughter of Bellona along the way.
1. A New Home

**A/N: I really wanted to write something like this for a long time. Gonna make this a short series of mini chapters about Jason growing up at Camp Jupiter. Enjoy!**

** Song: 'I Will Wait' – Mumford & Sons**

Jason was tired. He was hungry. And most of all, he was scared. He'd been wandering up and down the highway tunnel for hours now, his tiny, three year old hand tracing the wall, looking for a door or lock or something that would reveal Camp Jupiter to him. He knew he was in the right place. When he'd left Lupa a week earlier, she'd given him specific directions to the entrance to the camp. He'd followed those directions, yet still couldn't find what was to be his new home. He was close to tears.

Jason flopped down on the ground, giving up on the brave little legionnaire that Lupa wanted him to be. He couldn't find the camp. Mommy wasn't there to help. Thalia wasn't either. Jason had spent so long with Lupa he'd begun to forget his mother and sister. His mother's face was lost to him now, but not Thalia's. He promised himself to not forget the sister who'd loved him.

He was miserable. He wanted to go home.

A door opened in the stone wall a metre to Jason's left. The tiny kid scrambled back, cutting his hands on broken glass and debris deposited by drivers through the highway tunnel. Two kids dressed head to foot in Roman armour stepped out of the door, which swung shut behind them. They each carried a _pilum_ in their hands and wore purple T-shirts under their armour. They were both small, like kids.

"I hate sentry duty," one of them, a girl, grumbled.

"Me too," the other, a boy this time, muttered. "Especially at dinner."

The girl grunted. The boy took a flask from a little leather pouch on his hip and took a swig of it. He stumbled slightly on his feet, as if drunk, and fell towards where Jason hid in the darkness. Jason yelped and skittered back as the boy fell. The girl gripped her _pilum _and span to face Jason.

"Who's there?" she demanded. Now that Jason could see her face, she saw she was only around nine or ten, while the boy seemed to be around twelve. They both glared into the darkness, right at Jason.

His heart hammered against his chest. Feeling even more terrified than before, he stepped out of the shadows to face the two heavily armed kids. The two of them looked stunned when they saw Jason was just a kid. The girl crouched down on the ground, leaning on her _pilum._ Up close, Jason could see the freckles splattered across her nose, her hazel eyes and the locks of deep brown hair underneath her helmet. The boy had deep brown eyes and blonde hair, along with an acne patch on his left cheek.

"Kid, what are you doin out here?" the boy asked, picking himself up off the ground. He looked so tall and intimidating that Jason felt his fear and tears begin to build up again.

"I-I was s-sent by Lupa," he stammered, his tears falling down his cheeks and marking tracks through the dirt that had coated his face. The two kids glanced at each other.

"What's your name?" the girl asked in a much gentler tone than the boy.

"Jason Grace," he mumbled, wiping his running nose with the back of his hand.

"And who's your godly parent?"

"Huh?"

"Is your mom mortal?"

"Yes."

"So, who's your dad?"

"Jupiter?"

Again, the two kids glanced at each other worriedly, before the big boy sighed and crouched down next to the girl, a small smile on his face. "My name's Harry Grey, son of Bacchus, and this is Amy Waterworth, daughter of Ceres."

Jason wiped his nose again, snurched once and managed a small smile at Harry and Amy, his first smile in months. Ever since his mom had left him with Lupa, he'd had no reason to smile. Being abandoned by his own mom kind of ruined him.

"Welcome to Camp Jupiter, son of Jupiter," Amy smiled, pushing the door she and Harry had appeared out of. A stream of golden light fell across the tiny sidewalk of the highway. Harry lifted Jason up, holding the toddler against his chest. Jason was so tired he didn't even complain.

"Come one, kid," Harry grunted, following Amy through the doorway into the tunnel behind. "Let's go meet the rest of the camp."

The tunnel sloped and narrowed as Harry carried Jason. The gentle rocking motion almost sent the toddler to sleep, but he willed himself to stay awake. After all, he was about to meet the rest of the camp.

The tunnel opened up onto a large valley. Jason stared down at the camp awestruck. The camp was enormous. A river, the one that Lupa had called the Little Tiber, weaved around the camp into a large town a mile away from the camp. He could see the aqueduct, Temple Hill, the barracks, the baths, the coliseum and Mount Diablo rising up in the distance. Everything was so beautiful and unbelievable. Jason's mouth hung open as he stared down at the dark town.

"Welcome to your new home," Harry grinned. Amy laughed at the sight of Jason's face.

"Let's get in the gates," she said. "No one's on duty. Everyone's at dinner. Cato and Abelia are going to throw a fit. Normally, new members are my age, not toddlers."

"Abelia won't be so bad," Harry reassured Jason, who'd begun to panic. "She's a daughter of Ceres as well, so she's Amy's sister."

Jason nodded once before leaning his head against Harry's shoulder. He wanted nothing more than to have something to eat and go to sleep. He'd been through enough in the last week to care anymore.

Harry and Amy waded across the Little Tiber. The water lapped at Jason's filthy clothes and made them stick to his skin. Jason found himself chewing his lip where his little scar from trying to eat a stapler months ago was. From the what Amy and Harry were saying, he assumed he was in deep trouble. But, his dad seemed to be really important. He didn't understand everything about the gods. He just liked the stories. But his dad always seemed to be important in the stories, so maybe they'd be nice to him and let him stay.

"There's the mess hall," Amy said as they walked through the gates into the camp. The windows of the building Amy pointed to were golden and glowing with light, and a long stream of shouts and clangs of metal flowed out of the open doors. Amy led the way. Just before they reached the doors, Harry set Jason down with a grunt.

"Can you walk?" he asked. Jason nodded, feeling too scared to open his mouth at that moment in time. He clung to the hem of Harry's purple shirt as they walked into the mess hall.

The light was blinding and the sound was deafening for a few moments before Jason's eyes and ears adjusted. His mouth dropped open slightly. Over two hundred demigods loitered around on recliner couches, talking and shouting to each other and changing tables as they pleased. Food and drink flew through the air in mini hurricanes that caused general chaos. Helmets, spears and shields lined the walls beside the doors. Banners hung from the ceilings. At the front of the mess hall, thirteen demigods sat at a table separate from the others. Two of the demigods wore purple cloaks over golden armour. Jason recognised the cloaks immediately as the symbols of the praetors. He assumed that the other demigods were the centurions of the five cohorts.

The wind began to die down and demigods turned to stare as Harry, Amy and Jason walked up to the top table. A few pointed to Jason and whispers began to buzz in the toddlers ears. He resisted the urge to start sucking his thumb – a thing he'd found out he did when he was nervous or worried. At the top table, the centurions and praetors had stopped eating and were glaring in Harry and Amy's direction. The girl in the purple cloak didn't look as scary as the boy, who looked absolutely terrifying. The two praetors stood up, abandoning their table and walking down to meet the trio half-way to the table.

"What is this?" the boy near shouted, coming to a halt and standing with his hands on his hips. Jason noticed a tattoo burned into his arm: the letters S.P.Q.R, two crossed spears and six straight lines. Lupa had told Jason that the lines represented years of service at the camp and that the symbols represented whoever a demigod's mom or dad was. He didn't much like the idea of having them burned into his skin.

"We found him outside the tunnel," Harry said, pushing Jason forwards slightly so that the boy, who Jason took to be the Cato Amy mentioned earlier, could see him better. The girl Abelia's eyes softened at the sight of Jason, so small and scared. Whereas Cato radiated power, strength and fear, Abelia had a softer, kinder aura around her, more motherly and nurturing. Her eyes were a soft brown, like chocolate.

"He's a son of Jupiter," Amy said in a squeaky voice. The whole mess hall erupted into angry voices and shouting. Cato had to shout several times before it all died down. Jason almost started crying again when Cato turned his horrible glare onto him.

"What's your name?" Abelia asked, kneeling down in front of Jason.

"J-Jason Grace," he stammered, twisting his hands around the edge of his shirt nervously.

"Did Lupa send you?" Abelia asked gently, and Jason nodded once. The praetor looked back to her partner, whose face was quickly turning red.

"Praetor, how can a toddler join the legion?" one of the centurions at the top table shouted.

"We can't send him away!" another centurion, a black haired, blue eyed girl, shouted back. "He's a kid! He'd never survive out there on his own!"

"Let him join the Fifth then!" someone in the crowds yelled. "Geeks and Greeks."

The girl at the top table exchanged a tense glance with a red headed boy sat next to her. They both started to talk to each other in quick, almost unintelligible Latin.

"He has to go somewhere," Abelia said calmly, straightening up again.

"The Fifth can take him," the girl said. The boy nodded earnestly beside her.

"Are you sure?" Cato asked. He seemed to be deflating, the red in his cheeks and forehead slowly fading back to a more normal pastel colour that seemed healthy.

"We're sure."

"You will be responsible for him, though. Anything goes wrong with him, it's your fault."

"W-We understan'," the boy stammered. He had a strong Texan accent.

"Wait, what about the auguries?" one of the kids at the top table shouted. He was a tall, thin kid with blue eyes and messy blonde hair. From his belt hung a short silver knife and three blue Care Bears. He looked sort of mad.

Abelia glanced back at the boy, then looked at Jason with concern. The two centurions who said they would take Jason in glanced at each other worriedly. Cato glared down at Jason, who resisted the urge to run away and hide.

"Fine," Cato grumbled. "Read his auguries. And, if they come up positive, the Fifth can take him in and be responsible for him. Harry, Amelia, back to your cohorts. Centurions Smithy and Alexis, accompany Grace to Temple Hill."

The two centurions nodded and scrambled to their feet. The boy with the Care Bears led the way out of the mess hall, Jason jogging to try and keep up with his brisk steps. The kid led the two centurions and Jason out of the camp and down a mile long road. The pavestones were uneven and made Jason stumble every few steps, until he went crashing down and scraped both his palms and his cheek on the rough floor.

"Slow down, Octavian," the girl, Alexis, growled.

"Why are ya in such a rush anyway?" Smithy asked, kneeling down and helping Jason to his feet.

"I don't want to miss the war games," Octavian snarled, pointing to what looked like a fort in the middle of a mile wide field. Water cannons and wooden towers were set up along the wall and there were numerous stone buildings behind the walls. Around thirty or so demigods ran around, carrying stones and wooden planks, trying to add the finishing touches to the walls and the towers.

"Because war games are more importan' than a son o' Jupiter," Smithy growled, picking Jason up the same way that Harry had. Octavian narrowed his eyes but decided to say nothing. He just turned tail and carried on towards the hill beside the small town. He led them straight to the largest temple. It was situated on the top of the hill, and was completely open, with a golden statue of a man holding a lightning bolt and wrapped in a purple cape stood on a large dais.

"Temple o' Jupiter Optimus Maximus," Smithy said to Jason. "Your dad's temple, in other words."

Octavian headed straight for the statue and bowed to it once, before he retrieved something sort and silver from the statue's foot.

"You wouldn't happen to have a teddy bear with you?" he asked Jason, addressing the toddler properly for the first time. Jason stared at him blankly until Octavian sighed and pulled one of the Care Bears, a blue one, from his belt and turned back to the statue. He raised the silver thing, and Jason noticed that it was a knife. Octavian gutted the teddy bear (much to Jason's horror), pulled out some of the stuffing and muttered a kind of incantation into the fluff before turning around again with a horribly pained smile.

"The auguries say Jupiter's brat can join the legion," Octavian said. Even his cheerful tone sounded strained.

"That's great!" Alexis grinned, ruffled Jason's hair as Smithy let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Yes, yes, hooray and all that," Octavian growled, shaking his hands free of fluff. "But, remember this Alexis…" Octavian stood over the centurion. Smithy growled. His hands tightened on Jason's tattered shirt and his skin underneath painfully. Jason whimpered slightly. "He steps out of line; both you and Smithy will join in with his punishment, which, as I'm sure you know, is death. Good luck!"

Octavian disappeared down the hill, leaving Alexis breathing heavily, Jason quivering and Smithy muttering angrily.

"Well," Alexis gasped, her face red, "That could've gone worse."

**A/N: Twice in one chapter! /gasp.**

**Most of these characters are made up. Octavian is not from the original HoO books. This Octavian is the HoO Octavian's dad. In my headcanon, 'Octavian' is the family surname.**

**Anyways, review, follow, favourite, do your thing! Next chapter shall be up soon, along with the next chapter of 'Surf, Sun and Sky'!**


	2. The War Games

**A/N: This didn't take me too long to write, and I ain't too keen on it. But, whatever. Erm… Next chapter will be a big time jump. Maybe about three years, so Jason'll be about six years old. It'll be uploaded sometime during the next week, along with the next chapter of my OC story, 'Surf, Sun and Sky'.**

**Song: 'Demons' – Imagine Dragons.**

Jason was ready to pass out. His first few days at camp had been extremely exhausting and, since he was only a child, the centurions (save for Smithy, Abelia and Alexis) seemed to be pushing him to his limits. He was bruised, battered and, some nights, bloody. He didn't complain or cry, though. Lupa had beaten it out of him as best as she could. So, he just stopped his lip from quivering as best as he could and tried to look as brave as possible.

Of course, that didn't stop older kids from making fun of him.

Jason had soon learned that most kids turned up at Camp Jupiter between the ages of seven and twelve, much older than he currently was, meaning that all the armour and equipment was for older kids and weighed him down like mad. He could barely lift the sword and couldn't lift the standard _pilum_ all members of the legion received. Abelia, seeing that he would not be able to lift any of the equipment at all, gave him a small golden knife instead, though it functioned as a sword to the toddler.

Some of the older kids weren't pleasant towards Jason, to say the least. They'd trip him up a lot, leave horrible things in his pillow and his bed sheets, and say nasty things about him when they thought he couldn't hear when he really could. It made Jason pine for his sister Thalia once again, but he knew he'd most likely never see her again.

_Move on, Jason._

In the mornings, he was taught Latin alongside other, older demigods and legacies (descendants of the gods). Harry was in the Third and Amy turned out to be in the Fourth Cohort. He'd soon learned that the Fifth was a disgraced contingent, one that would take any old riff-raff, like toddler sons of Jupiter, for instance.

In the afternoons, he was taught how to fight with his knife by Alexis. She was specialized in fighting with a knife rather than a sword or _pilum._ Smithy taught Jason basic hand-to-hand combat and survival techniques. Before dinner, after training had ended for the day, Jason would sit with the two centurions atop of mess hall roof, watching the afternoon light slowly turn gold as the evening approached.

Alexis told Jason about every demigod. He learned that she was a legacy of Fortuna, the goddess of luck, and that Smithy's father was Mercury, the messenger god. He learned that Octavian was the oldest legacy at camp, being twenty-five, and was ready to leave at the end of the year. Each demigod had to serve at least ten years at camp. Octavian had served fifteen. Apparently, he was so much older that he even had a five year old son living in New Rome, the town down the road from the camp. Octavian was a descendant of Apollo, and was supposedly born with the ability to see into the future with the stuffing of teddy bears. At least, that's what Jason thought Alexis had said. He didn't understand half of the stuff she told him.

Abelia taught Jason basic healing methods, such as pouring nectar and concoctions made by the Apollo kids onto wounds and how to bind them. For a praetor, Abelia was very kind and was always smiling. Jason had yet to see a stern look cross her face. Cato was a whole different ball game, however. He was a son of Bellona, the war goddess, and very short tempered. Jason got on the praetor's bad side the morning after he arrived.

He'd been training with Alexis and Smithy and the rest of the Fifth Cohort. Smithy was teaching him how to use his knife as a throwing knife, and was aiming for the dummies set up at the other side of the arena. Cato walked in just before Jason threw his dagger, and the tiny demigod didn't have the best aim in the world. The dagger sank into Cato's breast plate near his shoulder, and Jason had only just managed to avoid getting sewn into a bag of ferrets and thrown into the little Tiber, on account of his age.

That didn't stop Cato from whacking him around the head and opening a cut that hurt so badly it still throbbed days later.

Jason followed Alexis to dinner on the fourth night of his stay at Camp Jupiter. He clung to her hand as always, and tried to not let his feet drag. He was tired and just wanted to go to bed, but the war games were that night. It was time for Jason to show what he could or couldn't do. Maybe earn himself some respect around camp for once.

As usual, he sat with Alexis and Smithy at the back of the hall, near the kitchens, where the Fifth cohort always sat. Ever since he'd arrived, Alexis and Smithy had pointedly made sure that they sat with him. They'd even dragged some of their friends to sit with them.

Fiona was a daughter of Venus, the love goddess, and reclined on her couch, swirling the Mountain Dew in her goblet. Ron, legacy of Vulcan, belched slightly, his fifth cheeseburger clasped in his hand. Ethan, son of Victoria, wolfed down his pizza so quickly Jason was sure he'd choke. All three legionnaires had been reluctant to sit with a toddler on the first night, but they had now accepted Jason as one of them, and treated him as such. Jason, in turn, treated them like his family. He'd learnt an awful lot about them.

Fiona, for instance, was a demigod who'd come all the way from Hilo in Hawaii. She was headstrong and slightly vain, always checking her reflection in polished shields and rippling waters, but she was deadly when handed a sword and had a frighteningly accurate aim when given a bow. Ron was brilliant at making weapons. He spent hours and hours in the camp forges making knives and swords and axes. He'd come from Phoenix, Arizona, and was built like a wrecking ball, with rippling muscles and dark skin. Ethan was his opposite. The son of Victoria was tall and skinny, with hardly any muscle on him. He stood head and shoulders above everyone else, and was a formidable opponent on the battle field. His mom's stance as the goddess of victory gave him an advantage many others didn't have. Jason learned the hard way to not challenge Ethan to a fight. He had the bruises to show why not to.

Jason was thankful for his new friends. He was thankful for how well accepted he was in the Fifth cohort. Compared to the cold behaviour of demigods and legacies in other cohorts, the Fifth had practically adopted him and accepted him into their family.

'So, how badly are we gonna fail tonight?' Ethan asked, taking a breather from eating his pepperoni pizza (with cheese stuffed crust, as Ethan constantly reminded them) to lick his fingers free of cheese and tomato sauce.

'Maybe we'll have some luck for once,' Fiona said in her high pitched, sing-song voice. 'We have a son of Jupiter on our side.'

'He's a toddler,' Ron grunted. 'He's gonna stay outta the action, away from the danger.'

'I don't wanna,' Jason murmured, playing with his burger. 'I wanna help out.'

Smithy shook his head. 'Games are dangerous, kiddo. Lotsa broken bones an' lacerations an' injuries. No place for a kid.'

'I'm not a kid!' Jason said indignantly, glaring at Smithy. 'I can help!'

'Sorry, Jason,' Alexis sighed. 'We're no risking you like that.'

Jason pouted and slumped against the velvet back of the couch, picking seeds from the top of his burger bun. He saw no point in even marching with his cohort to the Fields of Mars that night. Marching only succeeded in making him trip over his too large equipment and making him look like a fool before the entire legion. Jason sometimes wondered why he of all the kids in the world had to be the son of Jupiter. Why did he have to be chosen by Lupa? Given his current situation, he'd rather be wolf chow than a demigod.

The horn rang, signalling that the games were about to begin. Jason scrambled to his feet and followed Smithy, Alexis, Ron, Fiona and Ethan across the hall to retrieve their equipment. Outside, Jason marched right at the back of the cohort's rows, out of the way of most people. He only managed to trip twice, a new personal record for him.

That night, the Fifth cohort was on the offensive side alongside the First and Third cohorts. The Second and Fourth were on defence, setting up their flags inside the fort. Smithy gathered the Fifth around one of the largest boulders on the Field of Mars, Alexis standing beside him. She banged the butt of her _pilum_ against the boulder loudly several times before the cohort quietened down to hear Smithy's battle plans.

'As per usual,' Smithy sighed, 'They're sending us upfront to take the full force of the Second and Fourth.'

The entire cohort groaned. Fiona stabbed her _gladius_ into the ground angrily, and Ethan muttered a few choice swear words under his breath about where the First and Third could shove their swords.

'Sorry guys,' Smithy called. 'Just do your best and try not to get killed.'

Jason didn't know if he was joking or not.

'We'll just go with the turtle formation for now guys,' Alexis called over the angry muttering and cursing of the cohort. 'Just for the approach. Remember, we'll get our guys over their first. One of you guys is getting that Mural Crown tonight!'

Some of the campers brightened up at that thought, but all Jason could think about was how badly they were going to lose. So far, the cohort hadn't won any of the games. Not death ball, not paintball, not anything. He had no hopes for the war games. Although, he had a few tricks up his sleeve that Lupa had taught him…

Like Smithy had said, the Fifth went up against the walls first. The cohort's shields locked together, both in front and above them, protecting them from most angles. Jason ended up squashed in the middle, squeezed between Alexis and Ron. They began to move slowly towards the towering walls. On top of the walls, several water cannons were positioned at the edges. The members of the Fourth manning the cannons jeered at the Fifth's slow progress and began to shoot at the cohort. The water from the cannons slammed into the campers at the front so hard they were blasted off their feet into other campers. Jason felt the leftover spray from the water splatter against his skin. Wherever the water touched his skin, sparks flew off of the toddler. No one noticed, but Jason guessed it was time to reveal his freaky powers that Lupa had helped him hone.

Jason could see the Fourth laughing at them as the Fifth was humiliated. Jason clanked through the lines towards where the Third and First waited and was outraged to see that they too were laughing. Blood pounded in his ears. On an impulse, he pushed right to the front of the Fifth's lines and ran out into the middle of the field.

'Jason!' Alexis screeched, trying to pull him back into safety, but he pushed her away. The legionnaires from the Fourth stared down at Jason, standing alone in the middle of the field in too big armour, before bursting out laughing at the sight of him.

'Your funeral, baby!' one of the demigods shouted. The water cannons were loaded, and all of them aimed at Jason. He just closed his eyes and concentrated hard.

The water cannons hissed as they powered up. Jason frowned. A knot twisted in his stomach. All the hairs on his arms stood on end and a metallic smell invaded his nostrils. He could feel the electricity. He grinned.

_CRASH!_

The water cannons exploded. Lightning rained down from the sky and blasted the wooden barrels to smithereens. Members of the Fourth cohort were thrown backwards. Some fell from the walls, but were saved by the giant eagles flying in circles around the battlefield, pulling casualties from the dangers. The Fifth exploded into cheers behind Jason, but he wasn't done yet. He sheathed his dagger, strapped his shield to his back and splayed his hands, his arms pointed straight down. The air swirled beneath him and supported him, helping him bounce his way higher into the air and towards the top of the wall. The Fifth cohort screamed in admiration down below as he touched down on the stone wall.

Several members of the Fourth were staggering to their feet. Jason drew his sword again and, without a moment's hesitation, charged at the legionnaires. He stabbed at their armour and knocked them out with the hilt of his _gladius._

A grappling hook appeared in the arrow slit next to him. Jason stole a glance downwards and saw Fiona scurrying up the side of the wall as fast as she could, her bow across her back. When she reached the top, she slapped Jason on the shoulder.

'Nice one!' Fiona shouted, drawing her own _gladius _and jumping into the fight. At camp, children and legacies of Venus were often called useless or cowards. Jason didn't believe that. He'd seen what Fiona could do. She was sly and deadly, someone one would peg to stab you in the back on the battlefield. She pulled off her golden helmet and her ginger hair tumbled down her back like a waterfall. As a daughter of Venus, she gave off a strong aura of attraction. Many of the members of the Fourth, both boys and girls, stopped their attack and just stared open mouthed at the beautiful Fiona. She simply winked and stabbed at them, knocking them flat. Jason ran to help her.

One girl who hadn't been affected by Fiona's beauty charged towards the daughter of Venus with a high-pitched battle cry. Fiona brought her sword around in an arc and caught the girl straight in the middle of the chest. The girl overbalanced and fell over the side of the wall.

'Not so lucky today, are ya, Amy?' Fiona shouted, before turning back to fight the boys clustering behind her. An eagle swooped down and caught the girl who had fallen and, when she passed, Jason saw Amy's hazel eyes glaring down at Fiona and him.

Had he already lost a friend?

Jason and Fiona fought their way down to the fort behind the wall. The gats swung open and the Third and First cohorts poured in behind the Fifth. Jason could see Smithy, Alexis, Ron and Ethan in the middle of the crowds, fighting with the Second and Fourth.

'C'mon Jason!' Fiona shouted, tugging on his wrist. 'We need to get those flags before anyone else!'

Jason nodded. He took Fiona's hand in his and urged the winds to carry him upwards and towards the fort. The two of them fell through the forts roof, right on top of the flags' guards. Fiona kicked one in the head and Jason shocked the other two into unconsciousness. The two of them jumped up and ripped the colours of the Fourth and Second down from the wall.

'Sweet, sweet victory!' Fiona sighed, holding the colours of the Fourth in her hand. 'Victoria smiles on us today! Good job, Jason.' She smiled at the toddler and ruffled his hair, and Jason immediately felt proud of what he had done that day.

The two of them ran outside into the middle of the battle, hoisting the colours high. The battle stopped all at once. Everyone stared at the two demigods, standing in the middle of a war, victorious. Then, the Fifth erupted into cheers and screams. Jason's friends surged forwards and lifted the two demigods onto their shoulders. Fiona shouted out in jubilation, holding the Fourths colours above her head. Jason was grinning so widely her though his face might split.

'Well done, Jason Grace and Fiona Earhart!' Abelia's voice shouted over the celebrations of the Fifth. Abelia swooped down atop of a white pegasus, Cato following behind on a pure black one. 'The Fifth wins for the first time in ten years!'

Cato looked as if he had swallowed a lemon, contrasting Abelia's wide smile. He stayed behind on his pegasus, flanked by several scowling members of the First, while Abelia surged forwards and pulled Jason down from Smithy's shoulders. Jason spotted Harry and Amy, standing in the middle of the crowds. Harry was grinning at Jason, but Amy was scowling. Even though it wasn't Jason who had knocked her down, he knew she wouldn't forgive either him or Fiona for it.

'Romans, may I present to you, the winner of the Mural Crown,' Abelia called, lifting Jason's arm into the air, 'Jason Grace, the son of Jupiter!'

The Fifth cheered again, and Jason smiled. Maybe all his worrying and feeling homesick the last few days had been for nothing. He'd found a good home at Camp Jupiter.

It would all work out.


	3. Ivlivs

**A/N: Yay, third chapter! Not much I can say really other than that some of the characters mentioned in Son of Neptune will start making appearances. Gwen in this chapter, Bobby and Octavian in this chapter. So, enjoy!**

**Song: 'Don't You Worry Child' – Swedish House Mafia.**

Jason woke up to the sound of Smithy crashing out of his bed. Smithy slept on the bunk above him and moved around a lot in his sleep. It was a disaster waiting to happen, and cheered up everyone when they woke to find Smithy lying face down on the floor, cursing in Latin beneath his breath.

'Nice,' Fiona snorted, sitting up in bed. Even when she'd been sleeping for more than ten hours and had frizzy hair and bruises from the previous night's death ball match, she was still beautiful.

'Great wake-up call, Smithy,' Ethan groaned into his pillow in the next bunk over. Yvonne, the fifteen year old legacy of Bellona, laughed and swung her legs over the side of her bunk. Her twin brother, Jackson, sat up with a crocodile grin. He kicked at Smithy and the centurion rolled over onto his back.

'Someone set the alarm clock tomorrow instead,' Smithy groaned, rubbing his red forehead. Jason laughed and threw the covers off of his legs. He was ready to tackle the day. After all, it was his seventh birthday.

Almost four years had passed since he'd arrived at Camp Jupiter, and Jason had established himself as a valid member of the legion. He brought victory to the Fifth time and time again. He honed his sword fighting skills and became one of the best. His powers over lightning and air were a force to be reckoned with. No one tried to bully him, not since his first War Games, where he shown what a child of Jupiter could do.

But, he was uncomfortable with his fame.

Even though he was just a child, many people looked to Jason for help, maybe even for leadership. Smithy and Alexis, before she left for college in New Rome, sometimes even left tactics for the war games and death ball and paintball to Jason, expecting him to lead them into a victory that even Victoria would envy. He tried his best, but he'd made it clear to the centurions that he wasn't a leader. He was a soldier, a typical grunt. He followed orders. He did as he was told, like the good little Roman legionnaire that he was.

'Mornin' kiddo,' Fiona grinned, ruffling Jason's hair as she did every morning. 'Happy Birthday!'

'Kalends of July,' Harrison, legacy of Trivia, murmured. 'Juno's sacred day. Bad omens.'

'Shut it, Harrison,' Gwendolyn, daughter of Apollo, yawned, rubbing a hand through her brown, curly hair. She'd been at camp for about a year, and was two years older than Jason. Being similar in age to him, they'd become quite close friends.

'It's true though,' Harrison murmured, twisting his sheets around in his hand. 'A child of Jupiter born on his wife's scared day? Nothing good in store for you, Jason.'

'You could be the next augur,' Smithy said with a roll of his eyes. 'Don' listen to 'im, Jay. Have a good birthday.'

'Thanks,' Jason mumbled. His jubilant mood from a minute earlier was ruined by Harrison's words. He'd never before known that July the 1st, the Kalends of July, was the sacred day to his stepmother, Juno Moneta. His birthdays were already bad since he could no longer celebrate them with his sister or his mother. His sister's face was forever seared onto his brain, but his mother was lost to him years ago. Jason wondered if they searched for him. He wondered if they remembered him, if they wondered if he was alive or dead. He wished he could see his sister again. He missed her more than anything else. His mom… not so much. The very few memories he had of her weren't good ones. A few broken bottles, his mom passed out in the bath tub, a strange man in her bedroom…

Jason shook his head, ridding his mind of the horrible memories. It was his birthday. No lack of mother or sister were going to ruin the day. And no creepy omens were going to ruin it either.

Jason dressed and followed the ten members of his cohort he shared a dorm with outside into the dusty courtyard. The sun glared down on the camp. Jason could feel the bare skin of his arms and legs burning. He was thankful that he'd chosen to wear his shorts rather than his jeans.

The mess hall was already bustling and loud. The centurions nodded to Smithy and Fiona as they entered. After Alexis left, Fiona was bumped up to the rank of centurion. Because of Jason's help in the war games, the Fifth cohort was now revered. They could sit wherever they wanted. They were called out to do the best activities. They were elected to be senators.

Cato and Abelia sat at the top table. Abelia smiled at Jason and Cato acknowledged him with a grudging nod. Fiona and Smithy left to sit at the top table. Jason sat with Ron, Ethan, Harrison, Jackson, Yvonne and Gwen at their usual table at the back of the hall, beside the kitchens. Even after the Fifth began to build up its reputation and its members were invited to sit in better places, Jason and his friends still chose to sit at their table right at the back of the hall.

The wind spirits, the _aurae_, span around the hall, food flying in circles around their hurricane bodies. The moment Jason sat down, a golden plate piled high with chocolate coated pancakes. A goblet full of orange juice clanked down on the table next to him.

'So,' Yvonne said, shovelling a spoonful of cornflakes into her mouth, 'Plans for today?'

'Train, learn Latin, train, kick the First's arse, train, paintball,' Ron said in his deep voice, spreading jam on his toast. Jason had the same schedule in plan, and he took from the reactions of the others that they did as well. He looked past Ron and frowned when he saw Fiona heading towards the table, her golden plate filled high with syrup covered waffles. She slid onto Yvonne's couch, dabbing at a bit of syrup that managed to get on her chin.

'No paintball tonight,' Fiona sighed. Everyone at the table started to protest angrily, but Fiona held her hand up for silence. 'Cato is leaving tonight. There's gonna be a ceremony.'

Jason glared down at the table. He hated Cato. The praetor was a bully who was responsible for more than half of Jason's broken bones and serious injuries over the past three years. If he was leaving, even if it was just for New Rome, only a mile away, it was the best news of Jason's life at Camp Jupiter. Maybe they'd get a praetor who wasn't an asshat.

'Screw Cato,' Ethan muttered, thumping his half eaten apple down on the table. 'I was looking forward to manning the acid cannons tonight!'

'You can do it next time,' Gwen soothed, rubbing Ethan's shoulder. 'I'm happy Cato is going.'

'We can finally have an election for a new praetor,' Jackson murmured. He picked at his toast moodily. 'Wonder who'll get it…'

'Ten bucks says Smithy,' Harrison said.

'Everyone is rooting for Smithy,' Fiona said, spreading the syrup on her waffles with the back of her fork. 'Terry, Heidi, Hilda and Greg all want him for praetor. Says he's done some good the last few years.'

'If Heidi and Greg are backing him, he's gonna get it,' Ron said. 'They're in the Second cohort. If they're backing someone from the Fifth, he's bound to get it and make a difference in the camp!'

'Who's gonna make a difference?' Smithy suddenly asked, appearing out of nowhere behind Harrison. The legionnaires all jumped, and Jason banged his knee onto the side of the table, rattling all the goblets. Orange juice dripped down onto the white table cloth.

'No one,' Fiona said too quickly, going red in the face. Jason shot her an amused grin. He might have only been small, but he knew Fiona liked Smithy, more than she let on. She was constantly blushing and giggling and grinning when he was near, even when she wasn't caught talking about him possibly getting the job of praetor.

'Alrigh', Miss Suspicious,' Smithy said. He glared at the rest of the people at the table, before shrugging and sitting down next to Harrison.

Jason's day was pretty good. Though, with nothing particularly good to look forward that night, he just focused on getting the day done and out of the way. He lost to Ethan three times in a row during sparring matches in the morning, but managed to beat Yvonne, Jackson and Harrison with the help of Smithy several times. Ron started a food fight at lunch that ended with him scrubbing every dish in the kitchen on his own. The group didn't see him again until midnight, when he fell into the dorm and collapsed on his bed.

The afternoon was wasted away riding the elephant Hannibal, which the camp had just bought from a closing down zoo. Jason shouted out in exhilaration as he rode on Hannibal's back, the elephant charging down the road towards Temple Hill with the force of a wildebeest stampede. The cobblestones cracked beneath the elephant's feet and Hannibal accidentally destroyed three or four stalls along the side of the road by swinging his trunk from side to side.

The evening muster had a mixed atmosphere. Many were sad to see Cato leave, while other, like Jason and the rest of Fifth cohort, were overjoyed. Abelia looked as if she was trying to look upset at the loss of her colleague, but many knew she felt nothing but elation at losing her over violent friend. Fiona had told Jason about dozens of previous praetors who had become couples, but Abelia and Cato's relationship was different. They tolerated each other. Nothing more.

Jason stood between Ethan and Harrison at the muster, gripping his _pilum_ tight. His _gladius _hung from his belt, along with the knife he'd had since the beginning of his life at Camp Jupiter. When he'd turned six, he'd managed to lift both a _pilum_ and a _gladius_ properly for the first time. He'd felt a swell of pride building up in his chest, knowing that he could finally be seen as a full member of the legion.

Smithy held a scroll in his hand. He stood at the front of the cohort, calling names off of the list on the scroll. Fiona stood beside him, examining her nails and adjusting the straps of her armour, making sure it was perfect. Jackson stood right at the front of the cohort, holding a long pole that was supposed to be topped with a solid gold eagle, like the other cohorts. Only, it wasn't.

Jason knew the story. Harrison had told him about how a boy named Michael Varus, a praetor from the Fifth, had decided an ancient prophecy (one which possibly predicted the end of the world) was about him, and took a trip to Alaska in 1987 to prove it. What they'd found there, no one knew. Most of the Fifth was wiped out in a slaughter, and only one survivor remained in New Rome. The rest had left for the real world.

Jason hated the story. It was the reason why he had to build up the reputation of the Fifth, why it all rested on his tiny shoulders. But, he wished to learn the prophecy mentioned, and what the monster in Alaska was called. Of course, he'd never learn about the monster, for Alaska was the land beyond the gods, and no demigod could go there. The prophecy he would learn in time, but, in Abelia's words, only when the time came.

'Jason Grace!' Smithy called.

'Here!' Jason shouted, raising his _pilum_ so that Smithy could make him out amongst the lines of legionnaires.

'Wait till your voice breaks,' Ethan said. Jason looked up and saw him grinning under his helmet, his eyes slightly gleeful. 'Oh man, it'll be the most embarrassing day of your life here. Wanting to call out in some deep Christopher Lee voice and it comes out as a girly squeak. Enjoy it, sparky.'

_Sparky?_ Jason thought, raising an eyebrow at his friend. A weird and random nickname, but one that would most likely grown on Jason, since it would stick, now that Ethan had said it.

'Romans!' Cato bellowed, landing his black pegasus on the dusty ground just as Smithy ticked off the last name on the list. Abelia landed beside him on her white pegasus, her braid flowing behind her. She stared down at the reins of her pegasus, her knuckles white as she gripped them tighter than she would a knife. Jason frowned. For a second, just a second, he thought her saw a tear on her cheek, but she hid her face from the legion, and when she looked up again, she was smiling, though rather forced.

'Colours!' Cato said, and Jackson stepped forwards, along with all the other pole bearers in the legion. Five in total, but only four eagles. Everyone in the Fifth looked down ashamed, while Jason just glowered. Why should they be ashamed for something that was not their fault?

'Romans, we have an announcement,' Abelia said. For a moment, her voiced broke. Jason's frown lines deepened. 'As you all know, Cato, after serving ten years in the legion, is leaving for college in New Rome. I have decided that after ten years also, I shall retire as well and leave for the outside world as a veteran warrior.'

The legion stays silent. If both Cato and Abelia leave, then there will be no praetors. No one to lead the legion. The place would fall into complete and utter chaos.

'We put the election of the two new praetors to a vote amongst the senators and the centurions,' Cato called. Jason started. Ethan was a senator. Smithy and Fiona were centurions. How had they managed to keep something like that under wraps?

'A majority vote decided that Fiona Earhart and Smithy Pierre are your new praetors!' Abelia shouted. The First and Second began to scream their objection to the notion, but the Fifth drowned them out with their screams of jubilation. Smithy and Fiona looked at each other, stunned. They are both lifted onto the shoulders of members of the Third, Fourth and Fifth cohort, all of them happy that the Fifth had regained its reputation to the point of having both praetors from the disgraced contingent. They could make up for Michael Varus's mistakes. They could make the Fifth the best in the legion.

'_Ave!_' Abelia and Cato shouted as one. The First and Second did not shout after them, but the Third, Fourth and Fifth screamed loud enough for all five of the cohorts, and the majority of New Rome. Without waiting to be dismissed, the Fifth carried Smithy and Fiona to the mess hall and made them sit in the seats of honour; the praetor's chairs of the officer's table.

The Fifth sat wherever it wanted to. Jason changed seats so many times he got dizzy. The _aurae_, the wind spirits that served food, moved too fast to see what they were hitting. Jason got hit in the face with two pizzas, one burger and a slushie. His blonde hair was stained blue, but he was grinning like crazy.

He was pushed around the crowds until he found himself at the back of the hall, near the exit. He glanced back for a second, just a second, and saw Cato and Abelia, walking ten feet apart, heading for the camp's exit. He didn't know what compelled him to do it, but he ran for them.

'Abelia!' he shouted, tripping over his armour. He undid his belt and threw it aside. The _gladius _fell out of its sheath when it fell. He kept running, shouting the praetors name over and over. Finally, both she and Cato turned.

'Jason,' she smiled, leaning on her golden _pilum._ Cato nodded to Jason and even managed a small smile. Quite a feat for the son of Bellona.

'Why are you going?' he gasped out, doubling over.

'Because I miss the world,' she sighed, scuffing the dirt with her sandal. 'I miss Montana. I miss the lakes, the forests, the wide open spaces… Camp is so…'

'Closed,' Cato said, 'For a child of Ceres, at least. Good luck, Abelia.'

'Thank you, Cato,' she said, smiling at him. She turned back to Jason, and rested her hand on top of his head. 'Be good, and become the best there is.'

She turned and ran, ran straight into the wide open fields. She went straight for the Little Tiber and dived into the waves. The last glimpse Jason ever caught of the daughter of Ceres was her disappearing through the tunnel atop the hill.

'Walk with me,' Cato ordered, starting off down the darkened road to New Rome. Jason looked back for a moment, back at the light flooding through the windows of the mess hall, before he jogged after Cato and fell into step beside him.

'Gonna miss camp,' Cato sighed, walking backwards a few steps so that he could watch the camp shrink away. 'Love this place.'

'What you studying in college?' Jason asked, feeling a little awkward. He'd never spoken more than two words to Cato in one go. He had a scar hidden in his hair from where Cato whacked over the head during training a year earlier. He had memories of Cato sending him resentful looks. Not good memories.

Cato shrugged. 'Haven't decided. Just gonna wing it.'

That was Cato's way. Chose something completely random and hope it all goes your way. On the battlefield, that way went to Cato's liking. In reality, maybe it could work as well.

'And what are you gonna do?' Cato asked, looking down at Jason. 'Gonna keep your head down and be a good little legionnaire?'

Jason said nothing.

'Son of Jupiter,' Cato sighed. 'You've got a future at camp, kid. You have the potential to be the best this legion has ever seen. I've got my denarii on you being praetor when you get older, and I'm others would agree.' He clapped Jason on the shoulder. 'Good luck, kid.'

Cato carried on towards New Rome, which was still over half a kilometre away. Jason stood and watched until Cato disappeared into the town, before heading towards Temple Hill, for his father's temple.

Jupiter Optimus and Maximus wasn't empty, though.

A woman stood before the statue of Jason's father. She wore an old style Greek dress made of blue cloth with a goatskin cloak over one shoulder. Golden armbands were wrapped around her biceps and wrists. Her hair fell down her back like a waterfall, all brown and curls. In her left hand, she held a golden staff topped with a lotus flower. In her right, she turned something golden, like a coin, over and over in her hand.

'Who are you?' Jason asked, his voice echoing around the temple. The woman turned. Jason caught his breath. Her face was beautiful, like a statue. Her eyes seemed to be made of gold, and flickered like flames.

Jason recognised her face. He'd seen her perfect likeness of the statue of his stepmother in the temple next door.

'Juno Moneta,' he mumbled in a daze. The woman smiled.

'Yes, child,' the woman said with an amused smile. 'Juno the Warner.'

'W-Why are you here?' Jason asked, trembling. The fact that his stepmother was at camp was not a good thing. For one, Juno only appeared in time of great need and distress for the Romans. For another, she hated the children of Jupiter, and loved nothing more than to tear them apart.

'To deliver a present,' Juno said, stepping towards Jason. 'Hold out your hand.'

Jason hesitated for a moment, before holding out his right hand. His arm trembled slightly. Juno held out her own right hand and dropped the little golden coin into his hand. On one side of the coin, a picture of Julius Caesar was stamped into the gold. An axe was stamped on the other side.

'A denarii,' he said.

'Ivlivs,' Juno said, pointing to the Latin word printed beneath the picture of the axe. She pronounced the word like Yulius. 'Flip it, son of Jupiter.'

The goddess took a step back. Jason stared at the coin, lying in his palm, for a few moments, before he flipped it up in the air. When it landed back in his hand, it was no longer a coin. It was a seven foot long lance made entirely of Imperial Gold, the only metal that could defeat monsters. The tip was sharpened and deadly. The weapon felt balanced, yet slightly heavy, in Jason's hand.

'How-?' he asked.

'This weapon will help you with your destiny,' Juno said. 'It will protect you. To return it to its original form, flip it again.'

Jason did, and the coin landed in his hand again.

'When it lands on Julius Caesar's picture, it becomes a sword, a golden _gladius,_' Juno said, 'But, when it lands on the axe, it becomes the lance. Use it well, Jason Grace. Become the legionnaire we all need you to be.'

'What you need me to be?'

'Jason, I am your patron. My husband, you father, offered me to you as penance for his adulterous acts with your mother, the actress. I expect you to do well. I will be watching you closely. Make me proud, son of Jupiter.'

She shone with the light of a supernova. Jason shielded his eyes until the light faded. When he opened his eyes again, Juno was gone, leaving no evidence of her visit save for the weapon in Jason's hand.

He stared down at the warm, uneven metal. A gift from Juno. No doubt wielding such a weapon would make him nothing short of unstoppable. But, he smarted over how Juno had said his father, Jupiter, had _offered_ Jason to Juno to make up for his own mistakes. He might have only been seven years old, but he did not like the way he was being treated by his father. A gift, an object. He neither of those. He was a soldier, not the property of his stepmother.

He shoved the coin in his pocket. He was going to show Juno that he did not belong to her.

Hopefully.


	4. Augur, Wine and Treachery

**A/N: Yay. Another chapter already! Hope you like this one. Wasn't too keen when I was writing it. Anyway, it introduces Bobby, Dakota and Octavian, as well as showing a rivalry between Jason and Octavian. Next chapter is gonna be set another two years in the future, and Reyna is gonna finally make an appearance.**

**Song: 'The Bird and the Worm' – The Used.**

Three new campers in one day was something of a rarity at Camp Jupiter. Kids would cross the Little Tiber from time to time clutching recommendation forms. Some would be sent from New Rome when they were of age. But to have three in one day was something that was unheard of.

Jason's day started with the arrival of a legacy of Apollo from the city. When he heard the name of the kid, he'd almost pitched himself off of the top of the mess hall roof. Octavian, son of the old augur. Mini Octavian was eleven years old and looked like a younger version of his father. And, apparently, he also had the gift of sight, like his father before him.

The second kid to arrive was a tall son of Bacchus. His attractiveness stopped with his growing muscles. His mouth was stained red like a vampire, he slurred as he spoke, he stumbled as he walked and his eyes didn't line up properly, making the world seem as if it was leaning sharply to one side. The kid's name was Dakota, and he wasn't alone when he arrived.

With Dakota was an eleven year old legacy of Virtus, Bobby. Bobby was lanky and thin, with messy brown hair that refused to lay flat and yellowy eyes that reminded Jason of corn. Both Dakota and Bobby carried letters of recommendation with them, but the letters said to send them to the Fifth. Octavian, because of his father's popularity and status at the camp, was sent to the First.

Jason learned that day he had the most rotten luck, because he was tasked with showing the three eleven year old kids around the camp.

He met the kids before breakfast. Fiona and Smithy, both of them still praetors, had come up to Jason and asked him to show the three kids around, and Jason, being unable to say no to orders from his two friends, had agreed.

At breakfast, he sat with Octavian, Bobby and Dakota at a table not too far away from his friends. He could see Ethan choking on his pancakes as he ate them to fast, Ron laughing so hard he fell from his couch, Harrison proclaiming he could see omens in his cornflakes, Yvonne and Jackson singing 'We are the Champions' at the top of their lungs, still happy about their victory in paintball the night before. Jason's table was quiet. He ate his breakfast slowly, trying to put off having to show the kids around.

As he ate, he was aware of how weak and pathetic he looked for a Roman legionnaire and a son of Jupiter. He was taller and had put on a bit more muscle since Cato and Abelia had left, but he was still tiny and skinny when compared to some of the legionnaires at Camp Jupiter. He wasn't the fastest, or the strongest. After six years of camp, Jason had learned to hold his own in a battle, but he had lots of room for improvement. He figured he must've seemed quite pitiful to the three new kids. Being shown around by a nine year old wouldn't have been the top of his 'To-Do' list if he was them.

'Are you going to show us around any time today?' Octavian asked, turning his apple over and over in his hand. He was just like his father: impatient and a little crazy.

'Yeah, sure,' Jason said. 'Hang on.'

He shovelled the last of his waffles into his mouth, downed them with a large gulp of orange juice and retrieved his helmet and shield from under his couch.

'Let's go,' he sighed, leading the three new kids to the exit. Ethan and Ron waved to him, and he shot them a look that said _Help._ His two friends fell off their couches again, roaring with laughter. Jason wouldn't be able to talk to them properly until the war games that night, in which the Fifth were on the attacking team again.

Jason led the three kids to the Via Principia, and out to the Fields of Mars, pointing out different buildings and telling them where to go and when. He showed them the fort some of the legionnaires were building for that night's war games. The soldiers scurried around like ants, building up the walls and the portcullis and the fort. The water cannons and the ballistae were built withing a few minutes. Even after six years at camp, Jason still found it remarkable at how quickly some of the kids there could take things apart and build them back up again.

'They build so quick,' Bobby said, staring as the Romans, most likely children or legacies of Vulcan, finished off building the portcullis and started to build a moat around the whole fort.

'This whole camp could be torn down, relocated and built again in three to four days,' Jason said, gesturing back to the camp in the distance. 'But, that would only work if everyone took part.'

Bobby whistled. 'Jeez.'

'Pretty impressive,' Dakota mumbled, taking a swig out of the little leather flask he carried with him at all times. The red liquid inside spilled onto his lip and dribbled down his chin and onto his purple camp shirt. Jason frowned.

'Are you drinking wine?' he asked.

'Huh?' Dakota said. His mouth seemed to have turned an even darker shade of red after taking a drink of whatever was in that blasted flask of his. 'Oh, this? It's just Kool-Aid, with three times the amount of sugar. I'm addicted to it, man. It tastes so good…'

'Who's your godly parent?'

'Bacchus.'

'Figures.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Bobby asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

'Bacchus is god of wine,' Jason shrugged, trying to not get intimidated by Bobby towering over him with a glare on his face. The kid could go six rounds with Jason and leave the younger black and blue for months. 'He's got a drinking problem. Seems that Dakota is just like him.'

'Do you share any traits with your dad?' Bobby asked.

'Big headedness,' Octavian muttered.

Jason resisted the urge to pull out his coin, Ivlivs, and knock Octavian around the camp with his lance or sword, depending on which side the coin landed on. Amazingly, he managed to control his temper. Instead, he just said, 'You share at least one trait with _your_ dad, Octavian.'

'Oh, and what's that?'

'You're both assholes,' Jason spat, before he turned his back on the infuriating legacy of Apollo and headed for the road that led towards New Rome and Temple Hill.

'I like this kid,' Jason heard Dakota mutter to Bobby, and he didn't even try to stop himself from grinning.

Jason led the three kids to Temple Hill. They crossed the stone bridge that ran over the Little Tiber, and three naiads popped up out of the water, waving to Jason. The naiads were adolescent girls with green hair like seaweed, blue skin and pointed ears. They were pretty in an elf-like way, but Jason knew they would most likely try and drown any boys who would try to get a kiss from. He did wave back to them to be polite, though. Dakota and Bobby looked as if they would throw themselves over the side of the bridge to get to the naiads, but Octavian ignored them completely.

'Why do you let naiads stay at camp?' Octavian asked. His tone suggested that he was disgusted with the idea of naiads staying at camp.

'Because we honour them,' Jason snapped. 'We even have a nymphaeum to honour the nymphs.'

Octavian looked as if he would continue the argument, but Jason started walking towards Temple Hill, not giving the legacy a second glance. Two hours into the day and the kid was already annoying the hell out of him. Jason knew that if he had to spend several years with the kid before he could leave for New Rome, he was going to hit the guy one day.

The Temples were a collection of some of the strangest buildings Jason had ever seen. Jupiter's temple was the largest temple, and had no walls. Instead, it was made of white marble columns holding up a domed roof engraved with lightning bolts and clouds. Compared to Neptune's little shed with the cobweb covered statue of a trident, Jupiter's temple was a palace.

The four Romans passed Apollo's temple. It was made of white marble. Flanking the archway door were two solid gold, full length torches ablaze with golden flames. A solid gold sun was melded into the marble above the archway. Inside, a painted statue of Apollo stood on a marble dais. Several golden bowls sat on the dais, filled with some of the best food camp can offer. Tributes to the sun god.

Virtus's temple sat with a collection of buildings that Jason did his best to avoid. The Roman war gods' temples were building that Jason never paid tribute to. Bacchus's temple was also one he didn't frequent. Wine, theatre and madness didn't really sit high in his books.

As they passed their respective godly ancestors' temple, each of the four legionnaires bowed to the statues of their parents. Everyone, of course, bowed to Jupiter. When they passed Juno's marble temple, Jason bowed also to his patron. Octavian, Bobby and Dakota were all confused, as Juno was meant to be the enemy of all children of Jupiter. Jason offered no explanation for them, however. He just led them towards New Rome.

The whole way down the cobblestone road, Octavian moaned at how he did not need to have a tour around the place he grew up in. He complained about how he knew where everything was and what to do and where to go, but Jason told him that Bobby and Dakota hadn't been, as well as threatening to toss Octavian right in front of Hannibal when he charged down the road towards New Rome, so the kid finally shut up.

Just before they reached the Pomerian Line, the boundary around the town, Jason turned to Bobby and Dakota to warn them about Terminus, the cranky statue god of boundaries who protected the town.

'What's bad about him?' Dakota asked, frowning slightly. Bobby looked just as confused. Octavian just rolled his eyes.

'He's a little OCD about things,' Jason said, starting to walk again. 'Er… you haven't got any weapons on you?'

'No, we only arrived this morning.'

'Good.'

The statue of Terminus stood next to one of the archways in the wall that surrounded the town. The statue was a marble block until waist height. From then on upwards, it was a statue of a middle-aged man with no arm and a very severe face. Every thirty metres or so down the Pomerian Line, another Terminus statue stood and waited for anyone entering the town. The Terminus statue Jason and the others were approaching narrowed his eyes at the youngest Roman and sagged his shoulders.

'Jason Grace,' he said in his high-pitched, nasally voice, 'Come to cause trouble?'

'Er, not this time, Terminus,' Jason promised. 'Just to show the new kids around.'

'I suppose I best let you in,' Terminus sighed. 'But, before you do, hand over that weapon in your pocket.'

'To who?'

'What do you mean, to who? Why, to Harriet of course! Harriet! Harriet! Oh, where is that girl? Harriet!'

A ten year old girl peaked from around the archway. She had ginger hair that sat in ringlets, a splattering of freckles across her face like constellations, and hazel eyes. She stepped out from behind the archway and held out a small plastic tray. Jason glanced at the contents and almost snorted. A bottle of lemonade, an Oxford dictionary and a packet of Red Vines sat in the tray. Terminus reserved the tray for what he considered weapons, and the fact that the god thought of those three things as weapons just proved that the old statue really was paranoid. And very OCD.

'Okay,' Jason said, trying his hardest not to laugh. He pulled the coin from his pocket and dropped it into the tray with a little clang.

'IDs, please,' Terminus said. The four Romans stood in a line, one after another, and presented their arms to Terminus. Well, Jason presented his arm to the OCD god. The others showed Terminus their lead _probatio _tablets that hung around their necks.

'Please do not summon any lightning bolts and do not blow up any coffee shops,' Terminus said with a sigh as he let the four Romans into the town. 'Quinn was most unhappy last time.'

'I'll try not to,' Jason said with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his neck.

'And, before you go, Mr Grace, please move that plant pot over there two inches to the left and rearrange the rocks under that oak tree so that the biggest are at the bottom and the smallest are at the top. Thank you.'

Jason did as he was told and pulled Bobby, Dakota and Octavian away before Terminus asked them to do something ridiculous.

'Was he serious when he mentioned the blowing up the shop thing?' Bobby asked.

'Yep,' Jason said, his cheeks going slightly red. 'A little accident. The old praetor, Cato, was arguing with me back at camp and I got angry and this lightning bolt just appeared in the middle of New Rome. Blasted Quinn's shop to pieces.'

'Big- and hot-headed,' Octavian muttered.

'Only when around you,' Jason snapped.

Jason showed them around the city. He showed them the senate house, the baths, all the shops, the garden of Bacchus (Dakota hated the statue of his dad there) and the numerous statues and fountains all over the town. Finally, the sun began to set and Jason led the three back to camp just in time for the evening muster. He got them fitted out in armour just after the muster. At dinner, before the war games, Bobby and Dakota sat with Jason and his other friends, while Octavian headed straight for the kids from the First cohort, not giving Jason or the other a second glance.

'We not good enough for snooty-face?' Ethan asked, gesturing with a little movement of his head to Octavian. Jason jumped over the back of his couch and landed on the soft velvet with a sigh.

'Trust me,' he said, 'If he had sat with us, I would have punched him.'

'He's insufferable,' Bobby said, sitting next to Ron. 'Honestly, I was close to throwing him in the Little Tiber with a bowling ball tied to his feet.'

'Is he actually that bad?' Yvonne asked. She glanced over the back of her couch, stretching her neck so that she could see Octavian, sat at the front of the hall near the praetor's table.

'Yep,' Dakota said, pouring the contents of his flask into a goblet. 'He's awful.'

'With any luck, he won't stay as long as his dad,' Jackson said.

'He's got a horrible part to play in the future,' Harrison murmured, picking seeds off of the top of his burger bun. 'He believes in the existence of the Greeks in this age. He is as ambitious as he is sly. I'd watch out for him.'

Jason decided that Harrison was better at seeing omens and the future than Octavian ever would be.

'Okay, Captain Sunshine,' Yvonne muttered. 'Is that all your mother is showing you today?'

Harrison glared at Yvonne. He always claimed his mother was the one showing his fractured visions and giving him meaningless omens, but hardly anyone believed it. Fiona and Smithy did. Ron did. Jason did. He knew for a fact Harrison wouldn't make up any of the stuff he came out with. Some of it was horrifying. He told them once about a vision of a pure black mountain, of a million snake ladies, of a man in constellation armour, of legionnaires dying by the hands of the snake ladies… It had certainly freaked Jason out a little, especially when he said that a person took on the man in the constellation armour. That person was blonde haired, blue eyed and had a little scar on his lip.

'She has said nothing important today,' Harrison mumbled. 'But, she spoke to me last night.'

'And what did she say?'

'Saturn is rising.'

Jason didn't even have time to contemplate that before a horn sounded, signalling the beginning of the war games.

The Fifth marched to the Fields of Mars behind the rest of the legion, and Jason thought of the name Saturn. According to the myths, he was the king of the Titans, and the most feared of them all. He had been destroyed eons ago, sent down to the depths of hell itself. He couldn't be rising. He couldn't be getting stronger.

But what if he was? What if he was to come back and exact his revenge on the gods of Olympus? After all, it is the fault of Saturn's own son, Jason's father, that the Titan was defeated and forgotten about over the ages. If he was to return, the whole of the world would be in danger.

_Forget about it,_ Jason told himself. _Focus on the games._

The war games got off to a good start for the Fifth. They were on the attacking side with the First and Fourth, while the Second and Third defended the fort. The Fifth went up against the walls of the fort first, to weaken the defences. Jason did more than weaken their defences, however. He tore them apart.

As soon as the games began, Jason created his own tornado in the middle of the Fields. He started to spin like a top in the eye of the storm, pulling the air around him in a cycle, like a washing machine gone mad in Ethan's words. The tornado made its way across the Fields and blew the Romans from the top of the fort wall. Giant eagles caught the Romans before they fell, so Jason didn't have to worry about killing anyone. The ballistae and the water cannons were torn apart by the force of the tornado. The legionnaires down in the Fields had to run to avoid getting hit by the debris of the weapons. Jason span to a stop at the bottom of the wall. The Fifth ran to help him.

'Hurry!' Yvonne shouted, shoving Gwen forwards slightly. 'We need to get up there before that stupid Octavian boy!'

Jason glanced over at the First, who were crossing the moat to the wall. Octavian led them. Blood pounded in his ears. No way was Octavian getting all the glory.

Gwen pulled back her arrow and shot it upwards. A rope was tied to the end of the arrow. Halfway up the wall, the tip changed in a grappling hook, much bigger and much more useful than the blunt head it had been. The hook fastened itself in one of the arrow slits along the edge of the wall. Jason stood back and let Gwen climb up the wall first. Ethan pushed him forwards and he went up next.

'Blow the gate up!' Yvonne shouted, drawing her sword and heading for the portcullis. Jason nodded and climbed to the top. Ethan followed close behind. The rest of the Fifth headed for the gates. Jason waved his hand and a lightning bolt crashed down from the sky, blowing the metal of the portcullis sky high. The smelt of ozone, and a metallic like taste filled Jason's mouth.

'C'mon!' Gwen said, pulling on Jason and Ethan's arms. The First, Fourth and Fifth cohorts were spilling through the blown up gates. Unfortunately for Jason, not all of the members of the First were down in the courtyard of the fort.

'Jason, look out!' Ethan shouted. A shadow crossed Jason's shield. He pulled out his coin, flipped it over, and brought the lance up to meet Octavian's sword just in time. The legacy of Apollo was sly, however. He kicked Jason in the stomach, flipped his sword around so that he was holding the blade in his hand and whacked the hilt into the side of Jason's head.

Everything turned blurry. Before Octavian had hit him, summoning the tornado and the lightning bolt had tired Jason out. Powers like his own drained him very quickly. Now, yellow spots danced in front of his eyes. He staggered backwards, and found the edge of the wall. Panic set in. He started to flail, trying to hold onto to the remains of a ballistae, but Octavian whacked him around the head again. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the water of the moat rushing up to meet him.


	5. Love and War

**A/N: So, Reyna is finally here. Yippee! I suck at writing Reyna's character, so sorry if she's a little OOC. Anyways, the next chapter is gonna be a continuation from this one, and then after that, shit is gonna start going down because SATURN IS RISING. Kay, enjoy!**

** Song: 'Amsterdam' – Imagine Dragons.**

Eight stripes. Eight lines burned into his skin. Eight years spent at camp. Eight years since he'd been abandoned by his mother at the Wolf House. Jason ran a finger over the eight lines burned into his arm. They made their home under the letters 'S.P.Q.R' and a small picture of an eagle, the symbol of his father. Staring at the lines, Jason realised just how much of his life he'd spent at Camp Jupiter, and how long it had been since he had been out in the real world.

Jason sighed as he pulled his purple camp shirt over his head. He already hated the day, and it had barely begun. He was sore from the previous nights' war games. He was tired from a restless sleep. He wanted nothing more than to curl up beneath the thick blankets of his bunk and just sleep all day. But, he had training to do and Octavian ass to beat, so he forced himself to get dressed and follow his friends out into the hot summer sun.

And, of course, the first person he happened to run into was Octavian.

Jason didn't even try to stop the glare creeping onto his face. It was common knowledge that he'd absolutely loathed Octavian since the guy had knocked him from the wall in the war games two years ago. Jason had woken up two days later with a broken arm, three cracked ribs and a bruise down the left side of his face, along with an overwhelming desire to douse Octavian in acid during the next paintball match.

Octavian had his usual sneer on his face and that same crazy glint in his eyes. Three stuffed teddy bears hung from his belt, signalling that he was either an augur, or a teddy bear serial killer. Jason loved to pick fun at the fact Octavian carried teddy bears around with him wherever he went, while Octavian had somehow managed to find out that Jason tried to eat a stapler when he was two, and that that was the reason he had a scar on his lip, and now relentlessly teased him about it. He'd also spread it around camp. For years, to hide the embarrassing truth, Jason had told people he'd gotten it in a fight with a wolf back at Lupa's house. Of course Octavian would be the one to expose the truth.

Octavian's sneer turned into a horribly sweet and innocent smile. A second later, something horribly sharp dropped onto Jason's sandal and skewered the left side of his foot.

'Oops,' Octavian said. Jason bit into his lip to stop himself from screaming. He dared a glance downwards and saw Octavian's tiny sliver of a knife embedded in the far left side of his right foot, going straight through the flesh at the edge of his foot. He knelt down, pulled the knife out with a horrible burst of pain, and handed the blood speckled knife back to Octavian.

'You dropped this,' he said through gritted teeth, still holding back a million curses he'd love to shout in Octavian's sneering face. He managed a smile and limped off after his friends. He glanced down at the wound on his foot and breathed a sigh of relief. _Not that bad,_ he thought. _Bleeding a lot, but, then again, Octavian's nose will be later on._

'What happened to your foot?' Bobby asked, glancing under their table in the mess hall at the blood on the side of Jason's sandal.

'Nothing,' Jason mumbled, pulling his foot out of view. 'So, what's on the agenda today?'

'Hooking Smithy and Fiona up,' Paloma, daughter of Venus, smirked. Paloma had arrived a month or so after Bobby, Dakota and Octavian's arrival. Like her half-sister, Fiona, she was beautiful, but in a more middle-eastern way. She had olive-toned skin, black curly hair and light green eyes like the sea. Also like her half-sister, she liked to hook up couples she thought were perfect. And, considering her mother was the goddess of love, she was normally correct in thinking the couples were perfect.

'That your daily project for today?' Ethan asked, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

'For this week, you mean,' Paloma sighed. 'Gonna take a lot to get them two together. They keep holding up the pretence of not liking each other, despite how blatantly obvious it is that they do like each other.'

'Feels like demigod mating season,' Yvonne sighed. Her brother, Jackson, nodded in agreement, his mouth full to bursting with chocolate covered pancakes.

'What about you Jason?' Gwen asked. 'Not seen a girl you like?'

_My cheeks are not red. My cheeks are not red._

'N-No,' he mumbled, trying to focus on his cornflakes. Truth be told, he had.

A girl had arrived the day before. A daughter of Bellona who had been taken in by the First cohort. She hadn't been alone when she arrived. An older girl had been with her, but left the younger at camp, claiming she was going north to join the Amazons. Having a future Amazonian as a sister and letters of recommendation from several Roman veterans outside of the safe walls of New Rome had secured the girl a spot in the First cohort, the best of them all.

Her name was Reyna.

When Jason first saw her, he'd likened her appearance to that of a statue: beautiful and regal, yet also cold and distant. Reyna walked like a princess. She wore the armour and held the weapons of a Roman legionnaire as though she was born to do it. As a daughter of a war goddess, one could say she was meant for the lifestyle of a soldier. She was beautiful, with dark eyes and long, glossy black hair tied in a braid that fell over her shoulder.

Jason found it hard to look away from her. He'd only torn his gaze away when Reyna had met his eyes and glared at him with contempt. He guessed she'd be like most of the kids in the First cohort: hateful and snide towards the Fifth.

'Jason, that blush on your cheeks tells me you do have a crush,' Paloma said, pulling Jason from his thoughts. 'So, who is she?'

Jason wasn't listening. Reyna had just entered the mess hall. He stared at her, watching her make her way towards a busy, rowdy table and take a seat among several kids her age. At one point, she must have sensed Jason watching her, as she looked straight at him. Going beetroot red, he forced himself to look away and focus on his pancakes. A second later, he glanced up and saw that Reyna had looked away. Paloma followed his line of sight and pressed her lips together in a smile.

'The new girl?' she asked. In response, Jason's ears turned pink and Paloma clapped her hands together with a laugh.

'You like that Reyna girl?' Gwen asked.

'No!' Jason said, maybe a little too quickly.

'Jason and Reyna, sittin' in a tree,' Paloma sang, leaning on Jason's shoulder. He shoved her off roughly, glaring at her.

'I haven't even spoken to her yet and she only got here yesterday,' Jason growled, stabbing at his pancakes moodily.

'You might get your chance though,' Dakota said, swirling his Kool-Aid around in his goblet. 'We've got training with the First cohort out on the Fields all morning.'

'Great!' Paloma said. 'Perfect chance to get these two together!'

'Not a chance in hell, Paloma,' Jason muttered. 'Please keep out of my love life.'

'Not making any promises, Jason,' Paloma said. Jason immediately regretted ever making friend with her.

Jason tried to be as slow as possible finishing his breakfast, trying to delay having to be embarrassed in front of Reyna by Paloma and his friends. Unfortunately for him, Paloma pulled him away before he could even finish his pancakes.

The Fields of Mars were under the glare of the sun. In the distance, several dozen campers were setting up for that night's game of paintball. Jason was thankful he didn't have that job, as he was sweating buckets just marching to the Fields, much less building something. The First cohort was already waiting for the Fifth. A lot of them, Reyna and Octavian included, looked rather annoyed at the fact they had been kept waiting.

'Not acceptable, Dakota,' one of the First's centurions shouted. 'You need to learn the meaning of being on time!'

'Sorry that I like to savour breakfast,' Dakota mumbled.

Training began. The two cohorts mingled together, fighting with each other. Jason stuck with his friends (as usual) and ended up having a spar with Ethan (as usual).

Ethan's style was to charge head-on without strategy and hope everything went his way. Normally, it did. But, as Jason had gotten older, that way of fighting had become useless. Jason was unstoppable in battle. With Ivlivs in his hand, whether it took lance or _gladius _form, he was a monster. In under a minute of whacking Ethan around like a ball, Jason was declared the winner of that match.

He fought Gwen next, and kicked her down to her knees quickly. Bobby then stepped up to fight. Jason smiled. He was on a roll. No way could he let _Bobby_ take him down.

But, right in the middle of the fight, he made the mistake of glancing, just glancing subtly, at Reyna.

She was beautiful as she fought. Her lips were pulled back in a snarl, her braid swung from side to side with her movement. She danced on her toes, a warrior with the grace and movements of a ballerina. She sliced down her opponent like he was nothing and took out the next before he even had time to attack. She spun around, and noticed Jason looking at her. A smile crept onto her lips. Jason's heart hammered against his ribs. When she smiled, she was more beautiful than Venus herself.

Something rounded and blunt collided with the side of his head. Reyna's smile vanished. The whole world turned blurry. Blood ran down the side of Jason's face, mingling with the sweat that had built up. He fell to his knees. Reyna started running towards him.

Everything went black.


	6. Reyna

**A/N: I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A WHILE. I JUST LOST MY WRITING MUSE FOR THIS FOR THE LONGEST TIME BUT HERE YOU GO GUYS! CHAPTER 6! HOPE YOU LIKE IT!**

**Song: 'Sweet Nothing' – Florence Welch + Calvin Harris.**

* * *

The first thing Jason was aware of was someone slapping his face. Grumbling and groaning, he forced his eyes open and was met with the sight of Reyna standing over him. Instantly, his cheeks began to burn, drowning out the dull pain in his right temple.

'Welcome back, Jason,' Ethan said, hoisting Jason to his feet. 'Bobby got you good. You've been out a good few minutes.'

'Sorry,' Bobby said from behind Jason, looking slightly sheepish.

'It's fine, man,' Jason said, before he made the mistake of putting his hand over the wound Bobby had opened up on his temple. His hand came away slick with crimson blood and he frowned. 'Well, maybe not.'

'Looks pretty bad,' Gwen mumbled, taking Jason's chin in her hand and tilting his head to the side. 'There's a lot of blood. You might have a concussion. How many fingers am I holding up?'

'Four?'

Judging from Gwen, Bobby and Dakota's faces, he'd gotten the answer wrong.

'Infirmary,' Dakota and Gwen said as one. 'Now.'

'I'll take him,' Reyna said. Before Jason could protest, Reyna grasped his upper arm and dragged him away. Tripping over his feet and trying to clear the blurriness in his eyes, Jason allowed himself to be led away from the Fields of Mars and towards the infirmary beside the steaming bath house.

'I saw you staring,' Reyna said. Even if Jason hadn't just been knocked out, he wouldn't have been able to formulate a straight answer.

'Uh…'

'You shouldn't allow yourself to be distracted in combat,' Reyna reprimanded him. 'It's a good way to get you killed.'

'I'll keep that in mind.'

'Good.'

They walked in silence as they headed for the infirmary. Jason kept wiping at the blood pouring down the side of his face, trying to stem the flow, but the more he wiped away, the more came to take its place. In his opinion, head injuries were the worst kind of injury, since they always seemed to bleed more than any other part of the body, minus a few.

Inside the infirmary, a legacy of Apollo made Jason sit down on one of the clean, white beds and began to apply a salve made from unicorn horn shavings and nectar to Jason's head wound. Instantly, the pain dulled and Jason guessed that the wound was starting to heal. After a few minutes, the pain had disappeared completely. The legacy of Apollo washed away the salve and smiled.

'All better,' he said, slapping Jason on the shoulder. 'You're free to go, but I suggest staying away from training for a bit.'

'But what else am I supposed to do? I can't just sit around.'

'You can show me around,' Reyna said with a shrug of her shoulders. 'No one's shown me around properly. I was going to ask that Octavian to show me camp and New Rome properly, but he's horrible.'

'Sounds like a good idea,' the legacy smiled. 'Keep Sparky out of trouble for me.'

'I will,' Reyna beamed. Jason scowled. Ever since Ethan had first called him that years ago, it had become an official nickname, much to Jason's annoyance. Practically the whole camp called him Sparky. He'd hoped that Reyna wouldn't learn the nickname and that she'd call him plain old Jason. That idea had clearly been thrown out of the window.

'C'mon,' Reyna said, taking Jason's wrist and pulling him out of the infirmary and into the glaring sunlight once more. He almost tripped over his shield and gave himself another concussion again in the process.

'Didn't anyone show you around yesterday?' Jason grumbled, straightening his armour again.

Reyna shook her head. 'No one had the time, I think.'

'Well, there's not much to see anyway. There's Temple Hill and the Garden of Bacchus and things like that. Other than that, nothing,'

'Well, you can still show me.'

Jason sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was show _another_ person around camp, but Reyna was nice. And he'd like to spend some more time with her. So, he decided to go through the same dull tour for what felt the fifth or sixth time that month.

He showed her the Via Principis, the bath house, the main hall and the barracks. Reyna was interested by everything and refused to stop smiling. Jason found himself staring as she half-skipped down the mile long road to New Rome, her braid swinging from side to side with the motion. She glanced back and caught him staring. Jason's cheeks and neck felt hot. Reyna grinned before turning her gaze back to the stalls.

The ground rumbled beneath Jason's feet. His heart dropped into his stomach.

'Look out!' he shouted, diving into Reyna. He tackled her into the grass on the left side of the road. Hannibal the Elephant came charging past, his large feet smashing the cobblestones where Reyna had previously been standing.

'Watch out for Hannibal,' Jason panted as he helped Reyna back to her feet. 'He'll knock you flat if you're not careful.'

'I'll try to be careful,' Reyna gasped, brushing dust from her clothes. 'Seems this camp is just full of danger and excitement.'

'More than you'd believe,' Jason said with a wry smile.

'I bet you're used to it by now, huh?' Reyna asked as they started to walk towards the town of New Rome once more.

'Not really,' Jason said, rubbing the back of his neck. 'Everyday there's something new. New monsters to kill, new campers to help, new crappy challenges from Octavian… You know, things like that.'

'Ever get boring?'

'Nope. Never.'

Reyna nodded. She pointed towards Temple Hill. 'Those our parents' shrines?'

'Yep. You wanna see?'

She nodded once more and they changed direction, crossing the grass and the stone bridge to get to Temple Hill. Reyna seemed fascinated by all of the temples, not just the one belonging to her mother, which was a tall, rather large temple made of black marble and surrounded by flaming torches and black marble statues of Roman gladiators carrying spears.

Reyna loved Juno's temple in particular. Jason could see why. Juno's temple was beautiful, what with its peacock feather engraved columns, painted ceiling and flower pots standing guard at the door. It was hard not to like the temple.

As a kind of reflex action, Jason bowed to the beautifully painted statue of Juno. Ever since his seventh birthday and the visit from Juno, he'd respected the goddess of marriage, realising that while she was his 'patron' and that she seemed quite favourable towards him, she was still the vengeful stepmother the myths warned him about. A bit of respect towards her would most certainly not go amiss.

Reyna didn't miss the bow. She arched an eyebrow. 'You're bowing to _Juno_?'

Jason shrugged. 'I'd rather not get blasted by her.'

'Okay. That's fair. C'mon. Show me the town now!'

As they headed back down the hill, they passed Jupiter's temple. Hey found Jason's least favourite person waiting for the two of them near the entrance to the temple, his arms crossed over his chest and a teddy bear hanging by its legs from his brown leather belt.

'Enjoying your tour, Reyna?' Octavian drawled, pushing Jason aside and taking his place beside Reyna instead, much to Jason's chagrin.

'I am,' Reyna said, glancing back at Jason.

'Go away, Octavian,' Jason growled, rubbing his arm where Octavian punched him. 'Can't you go annoy Smithy or Fiona instead of us?'

'Manners, Jason,' Octavian said. 'Don't you want to leave a nice impression on this young lady here?'

'He already has,' Reyna snapped, smacking away Octavian's hand, which rested against her left bicep. Her other hand wrapped around the hilt of her sword, and Jason wished that she'd draw it and see how Octavian liked to be on the other end of a sword.

'C'mon, Reyna,' Jason grumbled, pushing on ahead. 'Let's leave the little legacy to burn his bears.'

'I know things you don't know!' Octavian said loudly and shrilly, following Jason and Reyna down the hill and into the town. They bypassed the Pomerian Line so that they could avoid a meeting with Terminus, Jason's second least favourite person. 'I know things that will happen to you – to the both of you! – in the future!'

'Yeah, yeah,' Jason muttered, showing Reyna to senate house.

'I know the great prophecy, Grace,' Octavian hissed. 'Something even _you_, the great son of Jupiter, don't know!'

Jason froze, turning to face Octavian with a look of pure disbelief. Reyna's eyes flickered between the two boys – one smug, one astonished. Confusion was written all over her face, and her mouth hung open ever so slightly.

'The great prophecy?' Jason repeated, his voice small and slightly high-pitched. 'They told you the great prophecy?'

'Please,' Octavian growled. 'It's been written into the floor of the temple of Jupiter! You just never noticed. Pretty pathetic, considering you're the son of Jupiter.'

'Oi!' someone shouted. Jason had never been happier to hear Cato's voice before in his life. The man himself came storming out of the nearest café, which actually belonged to him. Cato looked so much older, what with his wispy goatee and the little scar above his left eyebrow. His eyes were fixated on Octavian, his arms crossed over his chest.

'Get outta here, kid,' he said, towering over Octavian. 'You cause nothin' but trouble.'

'But-' Cato growled and loomed over Octavian, who was at least two feet shorter than the ex-praetor. Octavian gulped, nodded and turned to walk away, not before shooting Jason an ugly glare.

'Thanks, Cato,' Jason said, tuning to the son of Bellona with a smile.

'No problem, kid,' Cato said, glaring after Octavian's retreating silhouette. 'Hated his dad, hate him. The Octavian's are just a bunch of stuck up idiots. Sorry to the future generations that have to continue to put up with them.' Cato sighed and shook his head before turning to Reyna. 'Who's this?'

'Oh, this is Reyna, daughter of Bellona,' Jason said. A smile spread across Cato's face.

'Always wanted a little sis,' he said, holding his hand out for Reyna to shake. 'Cato, son of Bellona and your older half-brother.'

Reyna was absolutely psyched to meet another one of her siblings. Cato invited the two of them into his café, which was mostly empty despite it being close to lunch. He gave the two of them a free hot chocolate each and a cookie to go, along with the promise that Reyna and Jason could get free stuff whenever they wanted to.

'I like him,' Reyna smiled, munching on her cookie as Jason led her across New Rome to the Garden of Bacchus, one of his favourite areas in the town. Several former campers Jason had known waved at him from shop windows and verandas and he waved back to them.

'He's cool,' Jason agreed. 'He was praetor when I first got here.'

'Seems like a nice guy,' she said. 'And it's nice to have an older sibling, especially since Hylla…'

She trailed off.

'Hylla?' Jason asked, pausing to wipe a few crumbs off of his shirt. 'She your sister?'

'Yeah,' Reyna mumbled, swirling her hot chocolate. 'She took off after she left me here last night. Said she was heading north.'

'Why? Camp Jupiter is the safest place for demigods and legacies.'

'She said she was gonna join the Amazons.'

'Oh…'

Jason had no idea what to say to that. The Amazons were terrifying just to think of. They were dangerous and quite hateful towards men. Jason wouldn't like to be thrown in a locked room with one of them. He believed he'd never come out alive.

'C'mon,' he said, taking her wrist and tugging her along gently. 'I think you'll love the Garden of Bacchus.'

He wasn't wrong. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw the garden in all its summer splendour. Roses and carnations spilled out of their bushes and onto the cobblestone path. Busy bees floated lazily amongst the sparse daisies in the neatly trimmed grass. The statue of Bacchus spat water in the centre of the garden. The summer sunlight shined down on the garden, which caught the full force of the heat and light, what with it being situated on top of the hill.

Camp Jupiter and New Rome spilled out in the valley down below; an organized mess of buildings and peoples and nature. Even from the distance they stood at, Jason could make out Hannibal's charging form and his cohort taking part in the inter-cohort fights down in the Fields of Mars.

'It's lovely,' Reyna sighed, resting her hands on the limestone walls surround the garden, her half-empty plastic cup of hot chocolate before her. Jason scooped a pink carnation off of the floor and turned it over in his hand.

'It's my favourite,' he said.

'What, the flower?'

'No. This garden. I like coming here, especially when I'm stressed out.'

'Stressed?'

Jason shifted uncomfortably. 'You know, the 'son of Jupiter' stuff. They all expect me to be the leader and to make the hard decisions. The Fifth Cohort's reputation rests on my shoulders. Someone nominated me to be a senator this year, which is something else to worry about. I come here and relax for a bit, forget it all.'

'Aren't you used to it all, though? I mean, you've been here long enough.'

Jason winced.

'How long _have_ you been here for?'

'Eight years. I was three when I showed up.'

'Wow, seriously?'

'Yep.'

'What about your mom?'

He didn't reply. He just stared at the carnation.

'Jason?'

'Don't remember her. I had a sister, I think. But… I'm not too sure. All I remember is my sister looking after me. A few fuzzy memories. That's all I got.' He looked up at Reyna. 'What about you? What about your dad?'

Reyna glared at the sun. 'No comment. I'm not talking about that idiot.'

Jason understood immediately and dropped the subject.

Down in the valley below, a horn went off, signalling the noon muster. Jason swore in Latin. They'd never make it, and they'd have to suffer the awful punishments as a result.

He peaked over the edge of the limestone wall. Beneath it was a hill, not too steep but it would surely knock the both of them sick rolling down it. But what choice did they have.

'Up for a little roll?' he asked Reyna, sitting on the wall.

'Last one to the bottom is a rotten egg!' she shouted, throwing herself down the hill. A smile on his face and the carnation still in his hand, Jason rolled down after her. The world turned to blurs of green, white and blue. Nausea started to build up in his stomach, but he was smiling and laughing. He could hear Reyna giggling loudly, not too far ahead of himself. When the two of them finally rolled to a stop in the Field of Mars, they were red-faced and covered in grass stains, with little blades of grass stuck in their hair.

'That was fun!' Reyna giggled, running a hand through her hair, pulling out the bobble at the bottom. Her brown hair tumbled from its braid, falling in a curled waterfall down her back. Without thinking, Jason reached over and tucked the slightly crushed carnation into her hair, just above her left ear.

They both for for a minute, staring red-faced at each other. As the awkward silence rang on, Jason started to wish the ground would swallow him up, but then Reyna kissed him on the cheek.

'You're sweet,' she said with a smile, before punching his arm. 'Come on! I don't want to get in trouble!'

Dazed and still a little nauseous, Jason stumbled to his feet and ran after her, trying not to trip over his own feet. Back in the camp, in the principa, Jason stood with Dakota and Harrison, grinning like an idiot. Yvonne, who stood in front of Jason, turned to speak with him, but instead narrowed her eyes.

'What are you smiling about?' she asked, a small smirk playing on the corners of her lips.

'Nothing,' Jason shrugged, his grin getting wider. Yvonne smiled back before turning back around again. Jason glanced along the rows of Romans and caught sight of Reyna, standing amongst her fellow cohort members. She had no helmet with her, so Jason could see that the carnation still sat in her hair. She looked beautiful, with the flower and the grass in her hair and the little stain on her chin and that half-smile of hers.

Yeah. He definitely had a crush.

* * *

**EDIT: Thanks to Darksword13 for noticing that I accidentally put that Jason swore in Greek instead of Latin.**


	7. Winter War

**A/N: Yay, another chapter already. Hope you like this one. It's kind of a long one. Next chapter will have the Prophecy of the Seven in. Anyway, hope you like this one.**

**Song: 'Losing My Religion' – R.E.M.**

* * *

A year and a half of uninteresting events passed. Winter approached, and one morning, the camp and New Rome awoke to find the entire valley covered in a thick layer of snow. Due to the sheer amount of the snow, most legionnaires just gave up trying to even have a go at their activities and locked themselves in their dorm rooms. A few, like Jason and his friends, used their free time to go to New Rome.

They had nothing better to do. Smithy and Fiona had announced that all activities were officially cancelled, including the war games and paintball, until at least after the New Year, which was still three weeks away. So, it gave the demigods a lot of free time to kill.

Jason trekked down the frozen road to New Rome with Smithy, Fiona, Ethan, Yvonne, Jackson, Harrison, Gwen, Dakota, Bobby and Ron, rubbing his hands together to keep his blood flowing. His thin scarf only just protected the bottom half of his face, but his gloves had been eaten away by moths, meaning he'd had to throw them away that morning.

'Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,' Fiona sang, skipping on ahead. Smithy watched her with that lovey-dovey look he always reserved especially for her, and Bobby pretended to vomit behind him, causing an outbreak of giggles from Gwen and Dakota. Jason just wished Smithy would grow a pair and ask Fiona out. The guy's crush on her was obvious you wouldn't need an augur to see it. And one could so plainly see that the Fiona liked Smithy a lot, too. They just skirted around each other and pretended as if they didn't like each other.

'Reckon Cato's will be open?' Ethan asked, adjusting his black knitted snow hat on his head. 'He's normally open.'

'Should be,' Ron said, checking his watch. 'Cato opens every day unless there's something wrong.'

'Let's get movin' then,' Smithy grumbled. 'I'm freezin' my toes off 'ere.'

They moved on into the city managing to get past Terminus the Crazy OCD God without too much incident, other than Terminus arguing with Bobby over the serious damage the legacy of Virtus could do with the spare change he had in his jacket pocket. Jason tried so hard not to laugh that he was sure two of his ribs cracked. Smithy had no such reservations and had to be pulled away by Yvonne and Jackson so that Terminus would not punish him with measuring every blade of grass in the valley as punishment for not taking spare change injuries seriously.

New Rome looked, if possible, even better in the winter. Snow covered everything from the plants to the awnings of shops. Despite the snow, the streets were still fairly busy and the shops were still open, selling everything a Roman demigod could want. On the way to Cato's café on the other side of New Rome, Jason bought himself a new pair of gloves. Smithy accompanied him to the little stall that sold gloves and jewellery and silks, telling the others to keep on going, that they'd catch up.

'Which o' these d'ya reckon Fiona'll like, Sparky?' Smithy asked, pointing at the collection of necklaces hanging from a little wooden dummy man, the kind found in a mortal art class. Jason frowned at the necklaces and shrugged.

'It's Fiona,' he said. 'She likes all jewellery. Why?'

Smithy shifted from foot to foot. 'I wanna get 'er somat nice for Chris'mas, y'know?'

Jason got a little sly smile on his face that made Smithy tell him something rather rude in Latin. The shopkeeper shot Smithy an annoyed look.

Jason looked back to the necklaces hanging from the wooden dummy. All of them were beautiful and inlaid with various gemstones. Fiona would buy all of them, if she had the denarii. Finally, he picked out one he knew she would most definitely like. It was just a black leather cord necklace with a dove shaped silver pendant dangling from the end, a tiny little diamond inlaid in the eye of the dove. A dove was the symbol of Venus, Fiona's mother, and Fiona was very, very proud of her heritage and who she was.

'You sure?' Smithy asked, taking the necklace and examining it.

'Positive,' Jason nodded. 'Get it, dude.'

Smithy paid for the necklace and the two of them ran and caught up to the other's just before they reached Cato's café, which sat on the corner of a road and was open for business. Three customers were already sat in the café, but one of them immediately left as soon as the group walked in.

Cato half-smiled when he saw the eleven Romans standing in the doorway, shivering and wiping their feet on the drenched welcome matt. He offered them the best seats in the house: the three couches and two armchairs by the little fireplace in the far corner of the café. He took down everyone's orders and moved away to make them.

'Always nice an' warm in 'ere,' Smithy said, pulling off his hat and running a hand through his hair. As if she couldn't stop herself, Fiona reached across and pushed some of the unruly locks of Smithy's hair away from his face. The son of Mercury went as red as his hair and stared down at his shoes while Dakota, Jason and Bobby fell around laughing.

'Ah, young love,' Cato said with a grin as he set down a tray full of hot chocolates and cookies on the little coffee table.

'Ain't you found anyone yet?' Ron asked, taking his hot chocolate mug from the tray. Cato's cheeks coloured slightly, but he managed another small smile and nodded in the direction of the counter, where a young girl with short black hair and blue eyes sat. She smiled and waved at the group. Jason, who'd just taken a gulp of his hot chocolate (which Cato had thankfully added mint to), choked and had to be whacked on the back.

'Alexis?' he asked when he finally stopped coughing.

'Hey guys,' she said, coming over and sitting on the arm of Dakota's chair. 'Nice to see you all.'

'Nice to see you, too,' Fiona said. 'Gosh, you look so different!'

It was true. Alexis used to a small, timid girl with long black hair and a lot of spots on her chin and forehead. She was now quite tall and beautiful, with perfectly smooth skin, hair cut into a bob and make-up that had been applied with a careful hand.

'I started taking care of myself,' Alexis shrugged. 'The spots were starting to annoy me, and my hair was really getting ridiculous. It was just passing my bum when I finally got it all cut off.'

'When was this?'

''Bout a month ago, wasn't it, Cato?'

'Yeah, I think it was,' Cato called back from behind the counter.

'Anyway, I'm teaching floristry at the college in the city. Not a bad job, really.'

'Sounds like fun. I was thinking of taking floristry when I get to college…'

The conversation carried on like that, becoming less of a group discussion and more of a catch up between two old friends. Jason instead struck up a conversation with Dakota and Bobby at the recent arrivals to the camp when Reyna walked through the door, followed by two girls.

Of course, Jason tried to be impressive and look cool as he took a drink of his hot chocolate. But, since he had the luck of sixteen broke mirrors, he missed his mouth completely and spilt hot chocolate all down his front, prompting Smithy and Gwen to burst out laughing and Reyna and her friends to giggle.

'Holy Jupiter, this burns!' he exclaimed, batting at the scolding liquid.

'Smooth, Sparky,' Ethan chortled, a half-eaten cookie dangling from his fingers.

'You know, I make this stuff to drink, not to spill,' Cato called from the counter. Red in the face, Jason set his mug down and did his best to wipe away the hot chocolate and not make the wet patch across his shirt and pants as noticeable.

Reyna sat with her two friends at the little circular table near the windows, a fair distance away from Jason. Ever since the incident with the flower, things had been awkward between Jason and Reyna. They were friends, yes, and they did hang around a lot, but he couldn't help but think of her kissing his cheek every time he hung out with her. It had been a pleasant experience and was one of his favourite memories, alongside the fleeting memories of his sister and those of certain victories at Camp Jupiter.

Reyna was pretty. She got a lot of attention from a lot of boys, both younger and older, back at camp. With her black hair, warm brown eyes and her slim yet muscular build, she was a real Roman beauty, the kind that could seduce you and then slit your throat in your sleep. Jason would often find himself staring at her during dinner or training, thinking of how pretty she was when she was kicking Octavian's ass on the battlefield.

'How you guys feeling about a little snowball ambush on the First?' Bobby asked, munching contentedly on a cookie.

'Hell yes,' Dakota grinned. He took a swig from his little flask of Kool-Aid and started to tap his feet against the ground.

'We're having nothing to do with this,' Fiona said, gesturing to herself and Smithy.

'So?' Jackson shrugged.

'We can do it without you,' Harrison said.

'Let's do it,' Jason smiled.

Twenty minutes later, Jason and his friends, minus Smithy and Fiona, were positioned on the mess hall roof, armed to the teeth with snowballs to aim at the First, which, despite the snow and the cold, was still trying to continue the daily marching routine, even if a few of its members were missing. The cohort was rounding the corner. The others were waiting for Jason's mark to start firing. He waited until the cohort was right beneath them before he shouted, 'Now!'

Snowballs flew through the air and hit the members of the First on the head and in the face. Jason managed to hit Octavian right in the face and knocked the augur to the ground, thanking Fortuna for guiding his snowball to its desired target. The First ran for cover, screaming curses against the Fifth. Calvin, the son of Mars and centurion for the First, was trying to curse the Fifth, but a snowball hit his mouth and then a second hit him in the eye, knocking him flat. Whooping and jeering, the Fifth ran down into the mess hall and then into the pathway outside, running as fast as they could from the furious members of the First, who gave chase. Jason found himself being chased by Calvin and two of his big lackeys when he ran full pelt into Reyna. The two of them skidded on the ice and landed one on top of the other in the snow.

'Ow!' Reyna shouted, red in the face. 'Just who do you – Oh, it's you.'

'Nice to see you, too,' Jason groaned, rolling off of her onto his back on the snow.

'Who are you running from?'

'Calvin.' Jason tried to get to his feet but he skidded on the ice and fell flat. 'Crap!'

'Here.' Reyna took Jason's hand and dragged him into a little alley way between the First's dorms and the Second's. Calvin and his friends ran past, not even sparing a glance in the alley way's direction, before moving on to look for Jason in some other place. Jason let go of the breath he didn't realise he was holding.

'Thanks,' he said, glancing around. 'Hey, where are your friends?'

'They went to the shops in New Rome,' Reyna shrugged. 'I'm not the shopping type, so I came back and ended up getting knocked over by you.'

'Sorry. We ambushed the First with snowballs and I ended up getting chased by Calvin and the others.'

'Well, they're gone now, so you can go back to your barracks in peace.'

'Not going back. It's boring in the dorms.'

'Well, what do you want to do then?'

Jason glanced at the tallest hill in the area, and pointed to it. 'Fancy a hike?'

It took them a while to hike up the hill in the snow, but they finally reached the top and sat down in the snow, red-faced and sweaty, limbs screaming in protest from the steep hike and the clinging snow. From the top of the hill, they could see all of San Francisco and Mount Tam, better known as Mount Othrys to Romans. Jason turned to Reyna with a smile, but he noticed she was frowning at something. He followed her gaze and frowned also.

Mount Othrys was surrounded by dark clouds and lightning. Something was up. The mountain was almost always surrounded by clouds, but the clouds were normally white and blended in normally with the sky. It was where Atlas was holding the sky on his shoulders. If the clouds around the Mount Othrys were dark, something was clearly wrong.

Jason and Reyna ran straight back down the hill and to the praetor's apartments in the principia, where they were lucky to find Smithy and Fiona, shaking the snow from their hair.

'Woah, what's wrong?' Smithy asked, frowning at Jason and Reyna, who were both sweaty and shaking, their hair hanging in their faces.

'Mount… Othrys… clouds… trouble," Jason managed to gasp out.

'Mount Othrys?' Fiona asked with a frown, coming up behind Smithy. 'What about it?'

'Dark clouds,' Reyna said. 'Activity.'

Smithy and Fiona glanced at each other before running around the two panting demigods and out into the air. Jason and Reyna followed the pair back up the hill, where they collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

'Shit,' Jason heard Smithy mutter, the praetor's eyes on the distant mountain.

'Meeting down in the principa,' Fiona said, her voice sounding strong and powerful. 'Something's wrong. Something's really wrong.'

The entire legion gathered in the principa, muttering about what was going on. Jason found himself standing with Harrison, who was twisting his hands.

'Been seeing this for ages,' he muttered. 'I told Octavian, but he didn't believe me.'

Jason glanced sideways at his friend, worried for the guy's mental health, but he had no time to talk, as Fiona stepped up onto a makeshift podium, wearing her armour over the top of her winter clothes. Smithy had done the same, along with a few of the centurions.

'Smithy and I are going to lead a party of eagles to the mountain,' she called. 'We have already decided upon a team. The rest of the camp is to set up a patrol. The First cohort shall take the first patrol. Each shift shall be four hours long. The Second shall take the First's place after the four hours, and then the Third takes over, and so on. These guard shifts stay for a minimum of a week, until we assess the situation at Mount Othrys and see if there's a danger. Hopefully, there isn't.'

'Our team are as follows,' Smithy said, stepping up onto the podium. 'Reyna, Jason, Octavian, Calvin and Heidi. All of you get your armour on and get your weapons. Meet us in the Fields of Mars in ten minutes.'

Jason and Reyna joined Calvin, Octavian and Heidi as they made their way to the armoury. As they suited up, Jason noticed that all four of his teammates were a lot quieter than they usually were. Calvin wasn't trying to extract revenge on Jason; Octavian wasn't gloating or being annoying; Heidi wasn't chattering away like the daughter of Flora she was; Reyna was completely silent, and Jason was sure her face was slightly green.

It was a daunting prospect, going to Mount Othrys to see if the Titans were rising once more. It was the last thing that anyone wanted. Harrison's words from years previous, telling him that Saturn was rising, rang in Jason's ears. Harrison hadn't told anyone but the group. Maybe he should have. But, people would have most likely laughed him off.

_What if they believed him?_ a little voice at the back of Jason's mind nagged. No, he thought. They wouldn't have believed him at all. They would've laughed it off and told Harrison he was imagining things. But Jason believed everything that Harrison told him. He was way more perceptive than Octavian ever would be. Trivia sent him visions and dreams. Sometimes, Jason felt sorry for the guy, especially when he was woken in the middle of the night by Harrison's sobbing due to some horrific dream.

Harrison had always been right. A few nights ago, he'd woken Jason up to tell him about his latest dream, a dream about some battle on a mountainside. He'd seen a goddess in his dream, he'd said, and he'd seen some people die. And a Titan. Now, there was activity on Mount Othrys, where a Titan resided. If Jason saw the real-life enactment of what Harrison described, he was seriously going to give the kid a million denarii.

Jason followed the others out of the armoury and into the Fields of Mars, where Fiona and Smithy were waiting, along with seven giant eagles. Heidi went green at the sight of them. It was well known that she was afraid of heights and flying. Jason, of course, never had a problem with heights or flying.

'Right, here we go,' Fiona said, pulling on her helmet. Smithy mounted his own eagle, which was the largest and sat at the front.

'Plan is to just do some recon,' he called over the noise of the flapping wings and the eagles' cries. 'Get there, circle around and come back. Don't engage any hostiles. We'll sweep low enough to see Atlas, but not land. We just need to assess the situation.'

'Get ready,' Fiona shouted.

'_Unus!_' Smithy shouted. '_Duo, tris, IRE!_'

All seven eagles were lifted off of the ground. Wind ran through Jason's hair, and he felt a rush of exhilaration. Before he could stop himself, he shouted aloud, a shout of excitement and joy. In front of him, Fiona looked back and grinned at Jason.

Jason pressed himself flat against the back of the eagle, making himself as streamlined as possible. His hands clutched the headpiece of the bit the eagle was wearing. His eagle cawed loudly and soared upwards at a dangerous angle, breaking out of formation for just a second. Someone shouted out below him, so he forced to join the formation once again.

As they flew, the other seemed to get uncomfortable and cold, but Jason felt just fine. He was made for the air, after all. And, strangely, he seemed to know exactly where he was. He knew that they were exactly 1.3 miles away from Mount Tam.

'Begin descent!' Smithy shouted from up ahead. Jason's eagle angled downwards, following the others down into the clouds. They circled around the clouds for a minute in a V formation, before they broke through the clouds and found themselves gate-crashing a meeting.

Standing beneath the clouds, holding the weight of the sky on his shoulders, was a teenage kid, maybe eighteen, nineteen years old, with blond hair that was streaked with grey and a scar mutilating one side of his face. Beside him stood a tall man with slicked dark hair, eyes like stones, lightly tanned skin and a muscular build. His hands and shoulders were huge and his face was brutal looking, as though he had seen many battles. He wore a suit of armour, but it wasn't Roman. It seemed to be… _Greek._

The guy was addressing an army of monsters that was so big it spilled over the half-formed walls of a castle and down the mountain passage ways. Jason managed to name a few of the monsters, but there were so many that he couldn't possibly name them all.

The army and the leader looked up and roared at the sight of the Romans on their eagles, staring open-mouthed at the sight that beheld them. Then, the leader roared and raised his spear, pointing it straight at Jason and Smithy.

'Demigods!' he shouted, his voice echoing around the mountainside. 'Kill them all!'

'UP!' Smithy bellowed, trying to pull his eagle upwards. Jason's own eagle screeched and tried to move upwards as the arrows started to fly and the flying monsters to rise. The V formation turned and started to move upwards. An arrow streaked past Jason's ear, nipping it and causing it to bleed. More arrows flew past, and there was a screech up ahead.

'_Smithy!_' Fiona screeched as Smithy fell past, his eagle stuck with at least six different arrows. Smithy span to earth, shouting out as he did.

'Fiona! Get Reyna and Octavian outta here!' Jason shouted. 'Heidi, Calvin! On me!'

The three demigods dived downwards towards Smithy and the army of monsters, pressed up against the backs of their eagles. Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out his coin, flipping it over in his hand. His lance appeared in his palm, the golden end baying for the blood of all the monsters down below.

'Calvin, get Smithy!' Jason shouted. 'Heidi, with me!'

Heidi and Jason swooped over the lines of monsters, all of which reached up to try and snag onto the eagle's feathers or wings. Jason's eagle, which he decided to name Aquila, swooped low enough to take three monsters in her talons. She dragged them up into the air and then dropped them back down into the lines once more. Heidi, flying alongside of Jason, pulled her bow from her back and started to shoot the monsters with her Imperial Gold tipped arrows, taking down several snake ladies and what looked like a centaur.

'Jason!' Calvin shouted from behind. 'I've got Smithy, let's go!'

'Up, Heidi!' Jason roared. 'Up and around!'

They both turned and started to head upwards. They passed the teen that was holding up the sky and started to slowly move away. Just as they passed over the edge of the mountain and into open air, Heidi's eagle screeched and Heidi screamed. Jason turned and shouted out himself when he saw Heidi spinning towards the rocks down below. He started to turn and dive, trying to save her, but he knew he was too late. Heidi hit the rocks. He was close enough to see the explosion of blood and feathers and body parts.

Everything froze. Time didn't exist, what with Heidi now dead and the army cheering on her gory death from the cliff. Jason nearly threw up. He wanted to dive down and murder every monster with his lance. He wanted to slaughter them all. But, he instead forced himself to turn and follow the silhouettes of his surviving teammates.

He was the last to land in the Fields of Mars. The others were still searching the skies for Heidi, even after he landed.

'She's not coming,' he said in a hollow voice before recounting what had happened to her.

'Oh, FUCK!' Smithy shouted, kicking at the snow angrily.

'Gods, this can't be happening,' Fiona choked, tears running down her cheeks.

'She's only the first,' Octavian said darkly. 'The Titan Atlas is free. Saturn is free. A war's begun.'

Jason sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. 'Great.'


	8. The Warning

**A/N: Long chapter. Took me ages to write. Anyway, Prophecy of Seven in this one. And a lot of Jason feels in the next one. Enjoy.**

**Song: 'Bombing Run [Massive Mix]' - Ninja Tracks.**

* * *

Camp Jupiter had always been warlike and militaristic, just as it should have been; being a Roman ran camp and all. But, since the declaration of war, security had stepped up by a tenfold. Patrols were constant. Aerial patrols were sent out every few days to monitor Mount Othrys, but they couldn't get too close, what with the memory of Heidi's death so fresh in their minds.

Jason found himself close to exhaustion most days. New Year approached quickly, but his heart wasn't in the festivities. Christmas had been extremely subdued, other than the great moment when Smithy gave Fiona the pendant he bought her and she kissed him full on the mouth. Naturally, the whole mess hall had erupted into cheers.

On the 27th, Jason was awoken by his fellow cohort members. It was time for patrol. Slowly, he got up and dressed in his heavy armour and camp clothes, wrapping up warm so that he wouldn't end up making his cold any worse. Ethan and Dakota complained all the way from the barracks to the hill where they and Jason were stationed, but were silenced after a sharp glare from Jason.

It was raining, and the rain was washing away a lot of the snow. Slush seeped through Jason's shoes and into his socks, turning his feet cold and wet. Boy, it was going to be a long four hours.

His lance was in his hand. Every so often, a little electrical spark would run down it, showing the other two boys that Jason was on high alert and would be ready if there was an attack. He kept his eyes on the distant Mount Othrys, glaring at it through the slits of his helmet. Since the 21st, the mountain had seemed a bit more subdued, but there was something wrong. Even at the distance he stood at, he could make out some kind of structure that was slowly building, brick by brick, right before his very eyes.

Octavian said it was the home of the Titans, being rebuilt as Saturn rose. No one knew for sure what it was, as the eagle patrols couldn't get too close for safety measures. But both Octavian and Harrison predicted that the castle would be fully built within a week.

Being so close to the mountain, Jason felt as if the camp was vulnerable, too vulnerable. If it was the home of the Titans, then the camp was in for a rough war. The Titans could easily leave their stronghold unprotected for a couple of hours whilst they rained down hell itself on Camp Jupiter. The camp could be gone within a week. If it were up to Jason, he'd get everyone to move somewhere more strategic and safer.

But the place in which the camp currently sat was strategic already, in a way. Being placed in the valley it had been meant the Romans could keep an eye on Mount Othrys in case something like the rising of the King of the Titans happened. They were close enough to launch a full-scale attack if the need came, which Jason was sure it would.

'Hey, Jason,' Dakota said from where he sat. 'You heard what Greg from the Second was saying last night?'

'No. What's he said?'

'There's been some serious activity in the east, especially around New York and Long Island. Smithy's been considering sending some people out to investigate, but he doesn't want to run the risk of more casualties while they're out.'

'What kind of activity?'

'Paranormal. Greg's got a friend who's a veteran warrior living in New York. Kid sent Greg an eagle with a message saying something about thunderstorms around the Empire State Building on the 21st.'

'That's not too paranormal.'

'No dude, the storms were just around the Empire State Building. _Only _around the top. Nowhere else. And, the friend swore on his _gladius_ that he saw three pegasi with people sitting atop circling around the top of the building before heading straight into the clouds.'

'What's it mean?' Ethan asked, frowning.

Dakota shrugged. 'No one knows. But Octavian has started pulling some bullshit about Greeks and stuff.'

'Not again,' Jason groaned. 'Octavian needs to drop that. We all know the Greeks are gone.'

'Octavian and a few others don't think so,' Dakota said, pulling off his helmet to run a hand through his hair. 'They think the east is still cursed, that the Greeks still exist. After all, their gods never died, did they? We took them and changed them, made them Roman. So, the Greeks are still out there somewhere.'

'But-'

'Jason!'

Paloma, daughter of Venus, was running up the hill towards Jason and his friends. Her helmet was off, and her braided hair swung backwards and forwards. The few locks that had come loose from the braid were plastered to her hair because of the rain. When Ethan saw her, he tried to put on a winning smile that definitely didn't look good with his flaring acne.

'Smithy and Fiona want to see you,' she said breathlessly, skidding to a halt in the slush beside Jason. 'They're got a mission for you. Something about taking a little ride to find some weapons.'

'Right,' Jason nodded. 'Later, guys.'

He took off down the hill, his shoes slipping and sliding on the wet grass. He found Smithy and Fiona in the principa, along with Reyna, who was looking more tired and worn down than Jason had ever seen her.

'Jason, you're 'ere at last,' Smithy smiled, clapping him on the shoulder. 'Patrol alrigh'?'

'As good as it can be. Mount Othrys seems quiet, but I'm not getting my hopes up.'

'We've got a patrol goin' around later to check why it's been so quiet. Hopefully, there's nothin' up. Now, down to business.'

He started to walk towards the tower where the eagles were kept, ready and waiting in case of training or patrol. They were more often used for the latter option those days. Smithy waved his hand, signalling the others should follow him, and Fiona fell into step beside him, taking his hand in hers as she did.

'We got a message las' nigh',' Smithy said, pushing open the oak door at the base of the tower. 'Some veteran warrior by the name o' Jared Burras. Says he found some weapons in a Charleston Museum. Now, we're down on weapons, as you'll know. So, you're ta go there an' get them weapons. Migh' be enough for all o' the legion.'

'It's a straight there, straight back mission,' Fiona said, leading the way up the circular stone steps. 'Take the eagle chariot. And be careful.'

'We will,' Reyna promised.

They walked in silence until they reached the top of the tower, where fifty strong giant eagles were perched in the stands, cawing loudly and ruffling their feathers. The place smelled of bird poop and the floor was covered in dozens of moulted feathers, but Jason loved it. He always loved high up places, especially when he was surrounded by birds, the creatures of his father.

Aquila, the bird he'd flown to Mount Othrys, screeched loudly and flew down to land in front of Jason, spreading her wings wide and puffing out her chest proudly, as if showing off to the other birds in the tower, showing them that she had a human friend who wouldn't ride her once and forget her. Ever since riding her to Mount Othrys, Aquila refused to let any other Roman ride her, resorting to screeching and using her talons in some cases. Only Jason could calm her down. So, Smithy and Fiona had said that only Jason could ride her, so as to keep other Romans safe from those overly sharp talons of hers.

A tawny male eagle flew down and landed beside Aquila, staring disdainfully down his beak at both Jason and Aquila. Looking at the male, Jason decided that he was the eagle-embodiment of Octavian.

Smithy and Fiona yanked the golden chariot out of the shed built into the tower, attaching the harnesses and saddles to the eagles. Reyna and Jason fetched the flight gear from the shed, slipping off their helmets and armour and into the warm clothes and ice goggles. Reyna tucked a scarf around the bottom of her face, and Jason yanked a beanie over his hair before pulling on his fingerless gloves.

'We'll be expecting you back by morning,' Fiona said, throwing two packs filled with supplies at Jason. 'Midday at the latest. If you're any later, we're sending a search party out.'

'Got it,' Jason said, scrambling into the saddle on Aquila's back, his knees tucked in tight. Reyna climbed onto the back of her own mount, and they moved towards the archway built into the side of the tower, revealing a sharp 100 feet drop and the open air before them.

'On three?' Reyna asked, her voice muffled by her scarf. Jason nodded. 'One-'

'GO!'

Reyna screamed as the two eagles jumped out, the chariot swinging behind them. The eagles headed straight down in a horizontal drop, the ground rushing up to meet them. Then, as one, the eagles snapped out their wings, catching the wind and carrying them upwards again. Reyna was clutching at the feathers of her eagle tight, her face buried in their warmth. Jason couldn't stop laughing, the thrill of flying fuelling him.

'_That was not funny, Jason Grace_!' Reyna screamed, red in the face. Jason just laughed.

Camp Jupiter fell into clouds and rain as they flew on, chilled to the bone from the rain and the wind. They passed through several clouds, and Jason's jeans stuck to his skin, his ice goggles covered in droplets of rain. His top half was fine except for his hair, since his hood had been blown off and he couldn't be bothered trying to fight the wind.

States and cities and towns passed below, a patchwork of yellow lights, grey lines and green fields that Jason just stared at. As they moved further and further away from camp, the more he stared, drinking in the world down below, since he'd soon be taken back into the paranormal. Sometimes, people forgot just how young he'd been when he'd been take to Lupa, and that he'd rarely been allowed to leave Camp Jupiter. Outings such the one he was currently on were the only opportunities he got to see the real world. And he was never not amazed.

Night fell, and Jason decided to risk dipping a little lower, and going through clouds was only making their situation worse. And Reyna was shivering horribly. Jason feared she had a cold, but she'd never admit it. She was too stubborn and proud to admit that she was ill until she was dead and buried.

They moved down beneath the clouds, flying lower and lower until they noticed the sign proclaiming that they were in Augusta, Georgia.

'We're 144 miles out!' Jason shouted.

'Okay, Mr GPS!' Reyna shouted back. Jason fought back a grin.

Sooner than he thought, they began to lower, the lights of Charleston appeared down below, twinkling and shining through the dark. They skimmed over the tops of buildings until Reyna shouted out.

'Look!' she called, pointing to the roof of one of the tallest buildings, where a greenhouse had been built next to a pool. Standing on the roof, next to the pool, was a man waving a purple flag. Jason squinted through the dark and saw that the flag bore the golden laurel leaves and letters SPQR, the logo of Camp Jupiter. He pulled the eagles and the chariot around, heading for the rooftop. The man with the quickly moved out of the way, making room for Reyna and Jason to land.

'Bout damn time,' the man growled, throwing down his flag. 'Been waiting up here for six damn hours. Then again, Smithy's in charge and he takes his time.'

'Who are you?' Jason asked, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead and wiping at his rain drenched face.

'Jared Burras, numbskull,' Jared growled, crossing his arms over his chest. He moved into the light and Jason almost shouted out. The left side of Jared's face showed a handsome man, with sculpted eyebrows and green eyes and full lips. The right side was burnt beyond recognition, all blistered and red. His eye was completely white and staring. Jason found it hard to look away. Reyna was the same, white-faced and looking ill, her lips pressed together in a tight line to stop herself from blurting out questions. Jason had no such reservations.

'What happened to you?' he asked. Reyna nudged him, but Jared just laughed.

'Kid, you know the story of Alaska?' he asked, stepping closer to Jason. Jason had always been tall for his age, but Jared towered over him, easily another foot taller.

'Yeah, everyone does,' Jason spluttered, trying not to be intimidated.

'Well then, you should know that Jared Burras was Michael Varus's right hand man,' Jared snarled. 'And that he was a son of Venus, until that… t-that _thing _burnt half of my face off.'

'What thing?'

'Not for you to ask,' Jared spat. He stepped back into the shadows, to Jason's relief. He hated Jared's staring white eye. 'Now, who are you two?'

'I'm Reyna, daughter of Bellona,' Reyna said, stepping forwards. 'And this is Jason, son of Jupiter.'

'The big guy himself,' Jared snorted. 'Nothing good in store for you kid. You'll be dead by twenty.'

Jason didn't even gratify Jared with a reply to that statement. He just glared at the son of Venus until the guy sighed and stepped forwards once again.

'The weapons you're looking for are in _that _museum,' Jared said, moving to the edge of the roof and pointing down to the white building sitting in the middle of the street down below. 'They came in yesterday. Excavated from some Roman ruins in Italy. They're gonna put them on display. Get in there; nick 'em and take 'em home.'

'Sound plan,' Jason muttered.

'What about alarms?' Reyna asked, already pulling up her hood and covering her face.

'I can short circuit them,' Jason said with a grin, holding up his hand, which sparked as he did. 'Cut off the cameras and the alarms at once.'

'So, you do have your uses?' Jared asked.

'Shut up,' Reyna said. 'Come on, Jason. Let's get this over and done with.'

Jason nodded and wrapped an arm around Reyna's waist. The winds picked up around them and lifted them down towards the street, dropping them off right outside the museum. Silent as shadows, they snuck around the back of the museum, where they found a loading bay. Reyna fished a torch from her bag and pointed it at various crevices around the walls until they found the control panel sitting next to the doors. Jason pulled it open and short-circuited the doors and the alarms. Reyna pushed one of the doors open, and smiled when the alarms didn't go off.

Inside, they found themselves in the archives, surrounded by several dozen rows of wax figures and bones statues and replica shields. Cardboard squares proclaimed what section they were in. Reyna and Jason currently stood in the Ancient Greek section, much to their distaste.

'The leaf design always looked nice,' Reyna said, pulling a bronze replica of a sword from a pile of broken shields and helmets. 'I wonder if it did them any good in battle.'

'They lasted a while,' Jason shrugged, turning over a helmet with a blue horse hair plume over in his hands. 'But not as long as Rome. So maybe not.'

Reyna smiled and they both threw the replicas back onto the pile, moving instead to the Ancient Rome section, where they were sure to find the weapons that had been brought in. The only problem was the fact that the Ancient Rome section took up at least a third of the archives.

'This'll take all damn night,' Reyna growled, crossing her arms over her chest.

'No it won't,' Jason said with a smile, heading over to the third row of Roman stuff. 'Look at these boxes. The card says 'Weapons'. Delivery day is today's date.'

'Okay, smartass.'

There were three boxes, and all three were heavy. Reyna thought they were going to be a problem, until Jason decided to show off and use the winds to lift the boxes up and carry them out into the street, where he dumped them on the sidewalk, ready to send them up to the rooftop. They could see Jared's silhouette sitting on the edge of the roof, his legs swinging.

'Okay, back up and home we go,' Jason said, smiling at Reyna, before his smile faltered. 'Reyna? You alright? You look as if you've seen a ghost.'

'I-I'm fine.' She didn't look fine in the slightest. All the colour had been leached from her face, and her eyes were wide with terror, staring at the same spot across the street. The house she was staring at looked just like an old fashioned house, with white paint, columns and frilly curtains. It looked abandoned, but Jason could sense that _something _was there.

'Can you give me a minute?' Reyna asked, her voice coming out in a squeak. 'I-I have something I need to do.'

'Sure.' Reyna set off across the street, leaving an extremely confused son of Jupiter with three boxes of Roman weaponry in her wake.

Ten minutes passed. Twenty. Thirty. Ever second that passed was another second Jason spent worrying about the daughter of Bellona. She'd disappeared into the shadows and had yet to return. Jason wondered what had spooked her so. He'd heard a few tales back at camp about a ghost in Charleston, one that would only appear to female demigods, but he'd always laughed it off. Maybe he should've listened a bit more to find out more about this ghost, if that was what Reyna had seen.

She reappeared after forty-five minutes had passed. Jared had long since left the roof, and Jason was ready to fall asleep, but she showed up, all traces of fear gone from her face. Somehow, she seemed… powerful. More proud and less giggly and friendly around Jason. She'd gone from the people's princess to ice queen.

'Care to tell me what that was about?' Jason asked, hopping down from the boxes. Reyna turned her hard as ice eyes on him before she asked him to hurry up.

She didn't speak until they were passing safely over California, when she shouted, 'Begin descent!'

The moment the words were out of her mouth, Jason felt a light surround him. Aquila beneath him screeched, the male eagle following suit. Reyna screamed Jason's name, reaching out as if to grab him, but he was gone, scattered in the wind, as if he'd never been there in the first place.

* * *

When Jason opened his eyes, he was surrounded by the same white light that had taken him from Aquila and Reyna. He felt warm and clean, like he felt when he came back from the baths or from the war games after they won. It was peaceful. Jason was content to stay like that forever.

'Son of Jupiter,' a voice said. Jason spun around to face the same beautiful woman with the goatskin cloak and lotus-topped staff that he'd met on his seventh birthday, five years previous.

'Juno,' he said, before hastily bowing.

'No need for formalities,' the goddess sighed. 'I've brought you here for business related reasons.'

'Business?'

'Juno Moneta, remember? Juno the Warner. That's my job in the Roman society.'

'So you're here to deliver a warning?'

'I am. And it is a warning you must heed, Jason Grace, as your time to show yourself is coming.'

'What do you mean?'

'Saturn is rising. This you have known for years. That friend of yours, Harrison, should be taken more seriously. The boy has more sight than the blasted god of prophecy himself. His mother told him years ago that the king of the Titans would rise once more and take the throne. She knew this, and she proclaimed the gods would not win. So, she has joined the Titan force, along with many other minor gods.'

'What can we do?'

'All there is to do is prepare for war. Mount Othrys is the home of the Black Throne, Kronos's seat. Topple that, and he shall fall.'

'Done.'

'Not yet, son of Jupiter. You are not ready.'

'But when _will _I be ready? Is nine years of training not enough?'

Juno shook her head. 'It is not. Atlas still resides on the mountain. Crius has also taken up residence on the mountain, much to my chagrin. Sun has been dormant for centuries, living so far down in the earth, further than the reaches of Tartarus itself. But, he is rising and will soon join Crius. The three of them together are too much to take. They may get more powerful, yes, but, against the son of Jupiter himself, he will not stand a chance. This is what you were born for, Jason Grace. This was to be your destiny.'

Jason sighed. 'Great. That's just great.'

'There was always a reason for me to tell your mother to give you to Lupa so early,' Juno said, beginning to pace. The butt of her staff hit the floor in a steady rhythm. 'I needed you to become the greatest warrior the legion has ever seen, which you have. I needed you to do this job for me.'

'That's the thing with gods,' Jason spat. 'They always need someone to do their dirty work.'

'You are upset.'

'Give the lady a prize.'

'Watch your tone, Jason Grace. Just because I am patron, don't assume that I am a loving one, which I am not.'

'I already knew that.'

Juno narrowed her eyes. 'I pray you are not so insolent when the final battle comes, as it will kill you. Now, be gone.'

Juno waved her hand and Jason found himself falling. His legs and arms began to flail, madly trying to get the winds to obey him and support him, saving him from a horrible death. But the ground slammed into him faster than he anticipated, knocking the wind out of him and paralyzing him for a few moments as he tried to gain his bearings. When his tear blurred eyes finally cleared, he found himself staring at the domed ceiling of Jupiter's temple.

Cursing Juno to the high heavens, he rolled over and got to his knees, bones cracking up and down his spine and in his joints. He rubbed the back of his stiff neck and cast his eyes to the ground. Then, he frowned.

He'd landed on one of many prophecies carved into the stone floor of the temple. It was one he'd never paid any attention to, as the other prophecies always caught his attention. But, as he read it and the dread began to build up inside of him, he began to wish he'd asked about it sooner. His mind translated the Latin words into English for him:

_Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,_

_To storm or fire, the world must fall,_

_An oath to keep with a final breath_

_And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death._

He had no idea how long he sat on his knees in the temple, staring at the prophecy with an open mouth. When he eventually stood, his joints were stiff and his knees were scuffed from the hard stone floor. He stumbled forwards a few steps and gripped the side of one of the white marble columns, breathing heavily. Eventually, he forced himself to break out into a run.

He didn't know where he was running to. All he knew was that he was running from his future.

* * *

**A/N: Another AN just to say that the next chapter is a continuation of this one. So, rate, review and favourite. Do your thing, and I'll see ya'll next time.**


	9. Centurions

**A/N: Sorry it took so long guys! Don't murder me! Anyway, continuation of last time. Hope you enjoy!**

**Song: 'Lost Cause' - Imagine Dragons.**

* * *

No destination came to mind. No goal made itself known. He just ran. Ran and ran and ran. His ears rang, and the lines of the prophecy swam before his eyes. _His destiny…_The old story of Michael Varus and his misinterpretation of that prophecy came back to Jason, and it only made him feel worse. Even if that praetor from the 80s took it wrong, he still got most of his cohort killed. Jason didn't feel like being in charge of such a responsibility as the Prophecy of the Seven.

He kept running.

When he finally came to a stop, dizzy and panting, he was on his knees beside the waist-high walls of the Garden of Bacchus. He sat back and drew his legs up against his chest, his head between his knees as he tried to slow down his breathing.

Why was it always him? Why did he always have to deal with the big, important stuff that was clearly beyond him? As a son of Jupiter, he always stood out, always asked for things, in effect. Some days, he really wished he hadn't been born as the son of the most powerful god. Everything bad happened to him.

Juno loved messing with him. All he could think about were her words and the damn prophecy. He had a destiny, and it didn't sound too pretty. From the way Juno spoke about it in the dream, it was going to be a hard and dangerous road that ended in a fight with the Titans themselves. Jason was positive he was going to have nightmares about it for weeks.

His mind went to his sister. After nine years of being away from her, his memory of her had all but faded, leaving only a memory of a smile and a pair of electric blue eyes, identical to his own. He remembered she used to be loving, used to hold him whenever she could. When he tried to eat a stapler and cut himself, she cradled him while he cried, murmuring a little lullaby under her breath in a language he didn't know at the time. He used to think it was a Latin song, but, as he got older, he realised the words were in Greek, not Latin.

He wished he was two years old again, before his mother gave him away. He wished he could hold Thalia's hand when he was scared. He wished he could tell her what was bothering him. He wished she could make it all go away… But he was at Camp Jupiter, dealing with this shit, and Thalia was out somewhere in the world. Come to think of it, Jason didn't even know if she was alive, or if his mother was either.

Being a demigod was tough, Jason thought. All normal kids had to worry about was getting their homework in on time and what shoes to wear with their outfit, not about a war with the Lord of Time himself or a prophecy that basically predicts the end of the world. But, those two things were pretty normal in a demigod's life.

"Jason?" a voice asked. Jason looked up, and found Harrison standing several feet away. His brown hair and face were drenched in sweat, and his face was redder than a tomato, but he was smiling. In his hands, he held his lance and his helmet.

"Thank the gods, I found you," Harrison said, brushing his hair back. "Everyone's been worried sick since Reyna got back and told us about your disappearing act! Smithy and Fiona have had us all over the valley searching for you. What the hell happened? Where did you go? Jason? You okay? You look like you're gonna be sick."

Jason straightened out his legs and slumped against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "I've had a crap day. How long have I been gone?"

"Twelve hours," Harrison said, sitting down in the snow next to Jason. "Reyna was hysterical."

"It wasn't intentional or anything," Jason murmured, his eyes on the snow. "It was Juno."

"Your stepmom?"

"The one and only."

"What the hell did she want with you?"

"She told me about Saturn. Crius and Sun, as well. They're all on Mount Othrys."

"I know," Harrison nodded. "Mom told me."

Jason shifted uncomfortably. "Juno mentioned your mom as well. She said Trivia joined the Titans."

Harrison sighed through his nose and stared at the snow. "I know that, too. Most of the minor gods have. A lot… A lot of the minor demigods and legacies have taken off. They've been called by their parents. They're joining Saturn."

Jason groaned. "Fantastic."

"We're down in numbers. Smithy thinks we have less than a hundred-and-fifty Romans left in the legion."

"Who's gone? Anyone from Fifth."

"One or two." Harrison shrugged. "None of our friends. Except, well…"

"What?"

"Paloma's gone."

Jason stared.

"She took off. Followed some legacy of Virtus from Third."

"Why?"

Harrison shrugged again. "She wants to be appreciated, I guess. In the Titan Army… No one's judged for their lineage. You're all fighting for one cause. In the legion… people get picked on. Paloma is no warrior. She wants to be a model or an actress, not a Roman legionnaire. She's said more times than I can count on two hands. For that, she gets picked on."

Jason nodded. He knew she was bullied. He'd stopped the camp's bullies – Calvin and his lackeys – from picking on her many times.

"Well, all of Venus's kids and legacies, minus Fiona, get bullied. Fiona tries to stop it, but there's not a lot she can do. Calvin seems to enjoy getting sewn into a bag of ferrets. They're his favourite animals."

"I take it Paloma isn't the only one of Venus's line to go?"

"Nearly all of them are gone. In the Titan Army, they'll be treated like warriors, not idiots." Harrison sighed and began to trace his fingers in the snow, drawing out symbols and meaningless doodles. "Some of the members of the First did something awful..."

"What?"

"They… They defaced several of the temples."

Jason shook with fury. His hands sparked with electricity. "They didn't _dare_-"

"They did. They did." Harrison buried his head in his hands. "There's only me left for Trivia, and I couldn't stop them. They spray-painted the walls with slurs against the gods and took away the offers left for them. They're treating them like they treat Neptune." Harrison shuddered. "The worst thing… The worst was they thought you had joined the army as well."

"No! I would never-"

"I know, I know."

Jason took a deep breath. "They didn't touch my dad's temple, did they?" Harrison stared at the ground. "Harrison-"

"Octavian led a few guys in there."

Jason jumped to his feet and vaulted himself over the wall, rolling down the hill, like he'd done so long ago with Reyna. But that had been a different time; one filled with happiness and flowers. This one was cold and dark, with thunder and snow.

Harrison shouted and followed Jason down the hill. Jason didn't wait for him. He just ran to his dad's temple and skidded to a halt outside of him, fury bubbling up inside him like boiling water.

The outside faces of the temple's columns were painted with red and blue words. They weren't slurs against the god, but against Jason. Names and curses and threats that actually made Jason a little scared. He took several steps forwards and rested his hand against the dripping paint. When he pulled away, his hand was stained red.

"That is it," Jason growled, clenching his fists. He turned away and started off in the direction of the camp. Harrison looked as if he was about to block his way, in order to stop Jason from committing homicide, but sparks of electricity danced around Jason's palm and hair, so he stood back. They walked back to the camp in silence, thunder booming overhead.

When they reached the camp, it was deserted, but Jason could see that the lights of the mess hall were on. He and Harrison trumped over and swung the oak doors open, revealing the packed mess hall. Octavian was stood atop of the praetor's table, Smithy and Fiona behind him. He seemed to be screaming something, but stopped the moment he saw Jason and Harrison.

"Jason!" several peopled chorused. Hands reached for him and pulled him into hugs, but his gaze was fixed on Octavian. He tried to smile at Yvonne and Dakota and Ethan, but all he wanted to do was kick Octavian's _podex_ around the camp. Finally, when his friends let him go, he made his way through the crowd to the front and climbed the steps onto the platform the praetor's table sat on.

Over the last couple of years, Jason had grown to the point where people called him 'Sasquatch' more than they called him 'Sparky', so he could easily reach up and grab Octavian by his shirt collar. He pulled the augur down unceremoniously from the table and punched him full on in the face.

"You don't _ever_ dishonour my father's temple again!" Jason shouted as the augur fell down, blood streaming from his nose. "You don't ever dishonour any temple ever again! You are a Roman. You're all Romans!" He climbed atop of the table, taking Octavian's place. "Roman's work together! We're all a team! We do not dishonour a temple!"

"Their children dishonour them!" someone from the First shouted.

"So we don't add to it!" Jason shouted back, silencing them. "There are soldiers left here who have to watch you deface their parents' temples! Tell me: was Venus's temple touched?"

Several members of the crowd looked away, ashamed.

"And what about Mercury's?" Jason turned his head and glanced at Smithy. The praetor nodded. Jason turned back to the crowd. "Unbelievable. Your own two praetors had to watch you deface their parents' temples. Gods help you all."

Jason eyes locked on a figure stood at the back, surrounded by her friends. Reyna was gripping her _pilum_ tightly, her knuckles as white as the snow outside.

"Romans, now is not the time to divide," Jason said. "Now, of all times, is the time to knit ourselves closer together. We are at war. The last thing we need to do is cause a war amongst ourselves."

"Jason is right," Smithy said, standing beside the son of Jupiter. Fiona stood with him, clutching his hand tightly. "We've lost too many o' our soldiers, o' our friends. We don' need ta loose anymore."

"Anyone who participated in the defacing of the temples will paint over every single column until it is all gone," Fiona declared. "With your toothbrushes. This includes you, Octavian."

Octavian looked as if he were about to argue, but Jason's hand sparked and he closed his mouth.

"While we're 'ere, we 'ave to announce the departure of centurion Erin from the First and centurion Kyle from the Fifth," Smithy said. "We need two new centurions. We'd 'ave liked ta do this election on the Feast for Fortuna, but, given our state o' affairs, we can't. Any nominations for the First?"

Several names were called out. Octavian, Willow, Gennie, Mercedes, Reyna… Octavian noted them all down.

"Any for the Fifth?"

Only one name was called out: Jason's. All of his friends, all of the people he only knew by last name – even strangers! – nominated him for centurion. He gaped at just how many people shouted his name.

"Looks like we need no vote for him," Fiona smirked. "We vote for the First's new centurion in the morning."

The voting the next day didn't take long. Everyone awoke to find a card on their pillows. The names of the nominees were on the cards, and everyone had to tick which person they wanted as centurion. Jason's name was not on the card since he won by default. He ticked the little box by Reyna's name and then prayed to Tyche that she'd get it. The cards were collected in at lunch and the votes counted up by Smithy and Fiona.

While they waited for the results, Jason and Harrison, his fellow centurion, oversaw the painting over of the graffiti on the temples alongside the centurions from other cohorts. Jason personally oversaw Octavian, and was careful to point out every little spot that Octavian missed. The augur's nose was crooked as a result of the previous night's incident, and his eye had swelled up. Jason grinned every time he looked at the augur.

At the mustering, they learned that Reyna had won the election by a landslide. Jason and Reyna stood side-by-side as they received their centurions' badges and sat at the top table at dinner, laughing and chatting together. The night was made even better when Jason hit Octavian square in the chest with a paintball at that night's match.

That night, he forgot they were at war.

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter of Restoration should be up soon, along with Part 1 of 3 of 'The Things We Lost', a PJO zombie!au I', currently writing. It's a Jason/Percy fic. Anyway, rate, review, favourite, do your thing and I'll see you next time!**


	10. Morality Boost

**A/N: Wheee, new chapter already! Break from all the unhappy shit for a while.**

**Song: 'Last Night' – Good Charlotte.**

* * *

A few weeks after the Juno incident, Smithy came up with an idea to brighten the legion up. He had all of the centurions help him out with his idea. So, Jason forced himself up and out of his bed before sunrise so that he could meet Smithy, Fiona and the others in the principia. Harrison crept out with him.

"Too tired," Harrison yawned.

"But not too tired for jellybeans," Jason said, spotting the packet poking out of Harrison's jean pockets.

"Healthy, nutritious breakfast," Harrison grinned, popping the jellybean packet open. Jason held out his hand and Harrison emptied out half the packet into his palm. They crossed the empty camp, eating jellybeans as they went.

The mess hall was empty save for Fiona, Reyna and Calvin. Fiona was half-asleep and pushing her pancakes around her plate distastefully. Reyna and Calvin were talking to each other in undertones. Reyna glanced up and waved at Jason when he entered; Fiona managed a small smile and Calving ignored him completely.

Harrison and Jason sat down at their usual seats at the back of the hall. An aurae blasted through the doors of the kitchen and deposited a plate of waffles in front of Jason and a bowl of cornflakes before Harrison, along with two glasses of orange juice and a tall stack of toast. The duo wolfed their breakfast as the other centurions filed in one-by-one.

Smithy was the last to arrive. He strode across the hall, planted a kiss on Fiona's cheek and waved his hand to the centurions, indicating they should gather around.

"Camp morale has been down lately," Smithy said, sitting on top of the table crisscross applesauce. "Wit' the war an' Mount Othrys an' Heidi…"

Everyone glanced down.

"We need ta boost morale. My idea is a series o' events. Things like dances an' music an' games."

"That's not a bad idea," Jessie, the legacy of Nerio from Fourth, said, crossing her muscled arms over her chest. "A morale boost is what everyone needs, including us."

"So, what's the plan?" Calvin asked.

"We have more than enough money ta buy the things we need," Smithy said. "Stereos, CDs, DVDs, TVs."

"Are we going now?" Jason asked.

"Yes," Fiona nodded. She dug into the pocket of her combat trousers and pulled out three sets of keys. "We have three vans. We'll go in groups of four. We're only going into the city, and try not to go too far. We'll rendezvous at the edge of the valley at 10 o' clock, at the latest."

"So," Smithy said, clapping his hands together, "Who knows how to drive?"

* * *

Jason ended up in a van with Smithy, Reyna and Rebecca, a daughter of Ceres from the Second. Smithy sat behind the wheel with Jason riding shotgun and the girls in the back. Smithy turned on the radio as they set off and tuned into one of the worst stations ever. Some kind of country folk music started playing and Jason smacked his head into the dashboard.

"Why?" he asked as Smithy sang along.

"You love it," Smithy grinned.

"I hate you."

"Love you too, Sparky."

"What shop are we going to?" Reyna asked, leaning between the two seats.

"Electronics store first," Smithy said.

"Quick question: how is all this stuff going to work in a camp where there are no electrical outlets?" Rebecca asked, eyebrows raised.

"The Vulcan kids 'ave come up wit' a way ta power any electronic devices," Smithy said. "Ron showed me. It's a little disc o' some sort. They put 'em in the device an' it runs the device for years without fail."

"If all else fails, we can just hook Jason up to them by his ears," Reyna said, earning herself laughs from Smithy and Rebecca and a glare from Jason.

They drove the rest of the journey to the electronics store in silence. The other two vans had pulled away a while back, heading off down two separate roads to get CDs and DVDs and whatever else they saw appropriate.

The electronics store was practically empty when they entered, shivering from the cold and brushing stray flakes of snow from their hair. Two customers stood at the back, arguing whether or not to get a 40 inch or 50 inch plasma TV. The clerk sat behind the till, chewing on her gum and flicking through what looked like a male porno magazine.

"What's the best thing to get?" Rebecca asked, running her hand along a sleek, silver DVD player.

"A projector, a screen and a competent DVD player," Jason said. "That's the best thing to get."

"We'll need a relatively big one," Smithy said, leading them over to the projection screens. "A hundred inches should be good, righ'?"

"Yeah, should be."

"Okay then." Smithy lifted up the square-shaped tube holding the projection screen and hefted it onto his shoulder. Jason picked out a small, silver projector that came with a stand while Reyna and Rebecca chose the DVD player. They piled their items onto the counter, and the price of all three came to $200.

"Good thing I'm loaded," Smithy grinned at Jason, pulling out a battered old wallet.

But Jason's eyes were fixated on the TV screen on the wall behind the counter. The channel displayed was CNN, and the blonde reporter was halfway through a report on illegal hunters in Louisiana. Three blurred pictures were displayed on screen: a big girl with brown hair and a large nose; a thin girl with large lips and a scar across her left eyebrow and a girl with a freckled face and blue dip-dyed hair.

"_Last seen outside New Orleans,_" the reporter was saying. "_The three girls – unnamed so far – are wanted for illegal hunting. It is believed they are part of a larger group and have hunting animals. All three girls are armed and are believed to be wearing silver camouflage clothes._"

Jason stared at the freckled girl. He'd seen her before. He was sure of it. He just couldn't remember where…

The memory came at him so fast he almost stumbled. The girl, smiling down at him and singing a lullaby in Greek. She protected him from a drunken woman wielding a smashed bottle. She comforted him when he received his scar after trying to eat a stapler.

The girl on the TV was his sister. It was Thalia.

"You okay, Sparky?" Smithy asked with a frown. "You've gone pale."

"I-I'm fine."

Out in the parking lot, they loaded their items into the back of the van and clambered back in. Jason turned the heating up as high as it would go. Outside the van, the wind picked up and the snowfall thickened. Smithy turned the windscreen wipers on.

"I hope Fiona picks out some good films," Reyna sighed, staring out of the back windows at the snow.

"I heard her mention Harry Potter and the Goonies and a few Disney films," Rebecca said. "Oh, Calvin said he was getting Spice Girls to take the piss."

"I'll murder him," Smithy muttered.

"You can't say much, Captain Dolly Parsons," Jason mumbled as said singer warbled out '9 till 5' on the radio.

"Don' be dissin' Miss Parsons, Sparky."

"Dude, seriously?"

"Her music is in righ' now!"

"Yeah, for grannies."

"You can' say much Mister Jesse McCartney."

"Dude, Jesse McCartney is manlier than Dolly Parsons."

"Guys, you are seriously having this conversation?" Reyna asked.

"Yes, it's a very serious matter!"

"Celine Dion is better than Jesse McCartney and Dolly Parsons," Rebecca chirped.

"No, no, no!" Smithy and Jason chanted as one. Soon, the three of them were shouting different reasons as to why their favourite singers were the best while Reyna buried her head in her hands.

Back at camp, they found they were the first group to come back from their little shopping spree. They waited for ten minutes while the other two groups showed up. Smithy, Fiona and Calvin drove the vans back to the garage at the edge of New Rome while Jason and the others carried their items to the mess hall, which was mercifully empty. Smithy came back with Ron and two other Vulcan kids in tow.

Setting up the projector and the screen didn't take long. A sign was put on the door to the mess hall to say that all activities were cancelled and that no one could enter the hall until after the mustering that night. There was a bit of whinging when people found out there would be no war games, but everyone was anxious to find out why the centurions and praetors were being secretive and why no one was allowed inside the mess hall.

Fiona had indeed picked up the first five Harry Potter films. Jason had read the books in Latin while growing up. Most of the kids at camp had. A lot of them were hard-core Harry Potter fans that had posters above their beds and kept battered yet precious copies of the books. Even though Fiona had bought The Lion King, Mulan, The Goonies and The Lord of the Flies, Jason knew Harry Potter would win the vote.

The stereos were installed around camp, one in every dorm room. Of course, all the Romans were excited about that. Wherever Jason went, he could hear all kinds of music, ranging from punk to pop to R&B. His own dorm playing Michael Jackson all day long. When he walked in at lunchtime, he found Ethan, Bobby and Jackson having a dance-off to Thriller, which ended when Ethan slipped on one of Yvonne's sandals and crashed in Bobby, who happened to be standing right near the door. The two of them tumbled out of the door and down the stairs outside. They spent the rest of the day until the mustering in the infirmary.

At the mustering, Jason noticed how small the Romans' numbers were getting. A few weeks before, their numbers had been 200 strong. Now, they were only 120, at the most. Jason noticed how many of his friends were missing, Paloma included. It made him upset to know that they hated their life at camp so much they joined the people who wanted to destroy the world.

"Your turn to do the register," Harrison said, handing Jason the scroll of parchment with the names of all 35 remaining members of the cohort. Only five of their number had left; the least amount of all cohorts. The Third was missing half of their members, and the Fourth only had ten members left, including their centurions.

Jason went down the list, receiving calls of "Present!" as he read out the names. Every time someone didn't answer, he resisted the urge to sigh and just carried on. He'd just reached Yvonne's name when the inevitable happened: his voice broke.

One second, his voice was perfectly fine. The next, it was a high pitched squeak that made everyone in the legion laugh and made Jason want to crawl into a hole and die. There were only five names left on the parchment, but he shoved it at Harrison and made him read them out. His face was burning badly. He could see Octavian pointing and whispering something to Calvin, who sniggered.

His embarrassment followed him all the way to the mess hall. Ethan pushed through the crowds and slung an arm around Jason's shoulders, pulling Jason's head down into a headlock and giving him a noogie.

"I called it," he cackled. "I freaking called it! Remember?"

Jason managed a small smile. Of course he remembered. His seventh birthday – the day he received Ivlivs – was the day that Ethan had gleefully said that, one day, his voice would break and it would be extremely embarrassing for him. Ethan hadn't been wrong.

"You're gonna be screwed these next few days, you know?" Ethan said, letting Jason out of the headlock. " I've never seen Octavian and Calvin so happy. Gits."

"Forget 'em," Jason said, looking over his shoulder at Octavian, who sneered.

"Still not over him putting graffiti on my mom's temple," Ethan grumbled as Harrison fell into step alongside the duo. "He's an asshole who deserves to get kicked out of the camp for what he did. I'm surprised Fiona and Smithy didn't."

"We're low on numbers," Harrison said, pulling off his helmet and running a hand through his brown hair. "And we need an augur. We can't go charging into a war low on numbers and without an augur."

"I don't give one," Ethan muttered, glaring at Octavian over his shoulder. "I'd rather he was gone. But…" He sighed through his nose. "I guess I can wait until after the war. Then, I'm knocking ten shades of shit outta him and no one can say a gods damn word about it."

"I'll vouch for you," Jason said.

The mood was lightened when they entered the mess hall and found the projector and DVD player set up. After a quick vote, Jason found that his earlier assumption was correct: the legion decided they wanted to watch the third Harry Potter film. Aurae blasted through the hall and deposited food onto the tables as people took their seats. Jason sat with his friends at the back, as usual, but Reyna ran over and slid down in the couch next to him, holding a large glass bowl of jellybeans.

"These are your favourite, aren't they?" she asked with a smile, offering him the bowl.

"Yeah, thanks," he grinned, scooping out a handful.

"They're my favourite too," Reyna smiled, popping a yellow jellybean into her mouth. "So… Your voice broke, huh?"

Jason groaned. "Don't make fun of me, please."

"I won't, I won't." She sifted through the jellybeans until she found another yellow one. "It was funny in the moment."

"Octavian isn't thinking along the same lines as you." Jason glared at the back of the augur's head.

"He's an idiot and a bully." Reyna glared at him as well, before sighing and eating another yellow jellybean. "I don't even think he has the 'sight' he claims to have, because he's a pretty crappy augur."

"Have you got a thing for yellow jellybeans?" Jason blurted out as Reyna ate a fourth.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I kinda do. Lemon is my favourite flavour, and yellow is my favourite colour. What's your favourite?"

"Flavour or colour?"

"Both."

He thought for a moment. "Purple for colour… and Tutti-Frutti ones for flavour."

"I knew it'd be purple."

"What?"

"Jason Grace, the loyal legionnaire and the star of the camp. You've been here your whole life and worn a purple shirt pretty much every day. You've been surrounded by purple flags and togas. Of course it'd be purple."

Jason shifted. "Why is yours yellow?"

Reyna thought for a moment. She popped two jellybeans – one yellow, one white – into her mouth before she answered. "Because it's the colour of the sun. And I love the sun and summer and heat. Reminds me of home, of the island…"

"What island?"

Reyna froze, before she glared down at the bowl. "None of your business."

"But-"

"None of your business, Sparky."

They fell into silence and focused on the movie, which had only just begun. They watched in silence until the part where Harry blew up his aunt, when everyone started to laugh, Jason and Reyna included. They were laughing too much they didn't notice Octavian sneak up and stand right behind their couch until he leaned down and said, in a high-pitched voice, "Having fun, are we?"

Reyna glared at the augur. "Get lost, scarecrow."

Octavian tutted and placed his hands on his hips. "That's no way to talk to the augur of New Rome."

"So-called," Reyna muttered.

"Repeat that? I couldn't quite hear you."

"I said 'so-called', since you're the worst augur this camp has ever seen."

Octavian went from white to red to purple in a matter of seconds. "I'd watch your tone, Reyna. I know who you are. And about the island you were living on before you arrived here."

Reyna's face drained of colour.

"That's enough," Jason growled at Octavian.

"And I know about the ghost you saw in Charleston, as well," Octavian carried on. Reyna was going green. "I know everything. And I can expose the fact that you worked on Cir-"

"Stop!" Reyna said before she shoved the bowl of jellybeans at Jason, jumped up and ran from the hall. Jason watched her go, before he turned his glare on Octavian.

"You're a dick," he said, before he stood and walked after Reyna.

For some strange reason, he took the bowl of jellybeans with him. He had a feeling he'd need them.

* * *

**A/N: Rate, review, favourite, do your thing!**


	11. Jellybeans and Fire

**A/N: Really getting a war feel on here. Battles and such should be starting pretty damn soon. Btw, in a previous chapter it was said that Sun (Hyperion) was already awake. I've had to go back and amend that since I planned for that to happen later on. Sorry! Anyway, enjoy!**

**Song: 'A Thousand Years' – Christina Perri (this is my Jeyna song, sorry).**

* * *

Jason followed Reyna all the way down the road to New Rome. He followed at a walk, letting Reyna run on ahead. He wanted to talk, but he respected that she probably wanted to be alone for a little while. She was going to be alone for a while, since Terminus the OCD god stopped Jason at the city boundaries.

"No weapons inside the Pomerian Line!" Terminus declared.

"They're not weapons," Jason insisted. "They're jellybeans."

"Deadly weapons! You can blind someone by throwing them!"

"I'm not going to throw them, Terminus. I promise. And if I make a mess, you can make me measure the length of every blade of grass in the valley again."

Terminus thought for a moment, cocking his head to the side. If he had hands, Jason imagined Terminus would be using them to scratch his chin or the back of his head. Finally, Terminus sighed.

"Fine. You may enter."

Jason raced past him.

"Walk!"

He slowed his pace until he was around the corner, quickening to a run again.

New Rome was mostly empty. Jason passed several half-empty cafés and the empty college. The apartments and houses were bright with yellow lights. A couple walked past Jason, clutching hands and giggling.

He knew where Reyna would go. She and he shared a love for the Garden of Bacchus. It was their favourite spot in the whole of the valley.

She was there, like he'd guessed. She sat on the wall with her back to him, swinging her legs. Stray locks of hair that had fallen from her braid hung in her face. Her breathing was heavy, and his skin was drenched in sweat. Jason shifted from one foot to another before moving towards her and sitting on the wall beside her. She barely acknowledged his presence until he held out the bowl of jellybeans. She smiled and dipped her hand in.

"Comfort food," she mumbled through a mouthful.

"Peanut butter is mine," Jason said, fishing through for a Tutti-Frutti bean.

"Smooth or crunchy?"

"Smooth."

"Ew."

"You into crunchy?"

"Yep. Favourite ice cream flavour?"

He thought for a moment. "Hm… Mint."

"Huh. Mine's vanilla."

Reyna scooped out another handful of jellybeans and examined them under the silvery moonlight. "You know, I have a sister."

Jason nodded. Reyna hadn't been alone when she showed up at camp. Her sister, an older girl, had been with her, but soon left to go north and join the ever formidable Amazons. From what Jason heard around camp, this sister had defeated the Queen and become the Queen of Amazons.

"Hylla practically raised me," Reyna was saying. "Dad was always too high or too drunk to care. Bellona told him that she was a goddess the second time she came to him, when she had me. It drove him insane, knowing he'd been with a goddess. It does that to some mortals. That's why the gods keep their identities from them. Anyway, Hylla raised me until I was five years old. Then, she decided she'd had enough and bundled me away." Reyna chewed slowly on a yellow jellybean before continuing. "She managed to sneak us onto a ship."

"A ship?"

"We lived in Puerto Rico. Hylla got us on a ship. We hid in the cargo bay. The ship was heading to New York, and my sister hoped to find us a better life there. Instead… we got caught in a storm."

Jason shuddered. He hated the sea.

"My sister said it was Neptune," Reyna said, picking the blue jellybeans out of her handful and dumping them back in the bowl. "You know how he was in ancient times. The storm sunk our boat. We almost drowned, but we managed to get a hold of a piece of wood. We drifted for two days, before we washed up on an island."

A small smile crept onto Reyna's face. "It was like paradise. The patron was beautiful. She fed us and housed us. In return, we served her. The island was a spa resort, but only for women. Any men that showed up…" Reyna shuddered.

Jason frowned. "Doesn't sound like much of a paradise."

"We were girls, so for us it was a paradise, especially considering all that had happened to us."

"Who was the patron? What did she do to men?"

Reyna shifted. "The patron was Circe."

Jason's face drained of colour. "Not _the _Circe?"

"The very same," Reyna said with a short nod. "She was… kind. She treated us like daughters. And we were happy, despite the fact that she turned all male visitors into various animals. Then, Percy Jackson happened."

"Percy Jackson?"

Reyna's face was grim. "Five years after we arrived, he showed up in a life raft with a blonde haired girl, Annabeth Chase, I think. They were demigods, but… not Roman."

"What do you mean, not Roman?"

"Exactly what I said. Call me crazy but… they were Greek."

Jason blinked.

"Percy was a son of Poseidon, and Annabeth the daughter of Athena."

"Neptune and Minerva."

"Yes. Anyway, we greeted them kindly. Circe took Percy away and Annabeth was sent to me and the other assistants. She talked about architecture while I braided her hair. And Circe… Circe turned Percy Jackson into a guinea pig. But, Annabeth turned him and the other guinea pigs back into humans. It was a bad thing to do."

Reyna shuddered. "Several hundred years ago, Circe turned Blackbeard, the son of Ares-"

"Mars."

"Whatever. Anyway, she turned Blackbeard and his crew into guinea pigs and Annabeth turned them back into humans. Blackbeard decided to take his vengeance out on us while Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase escaped. He destroyed the island and tried to take us prisoner, but my sister and I stole their weapons and a ship and left.

"We sailed to Florida, and carried on from there. A scout from the Amazons approached us in Nevada and offered us a place in the Amazons. Hylla was interested, but I wasn't. We kept going until we reached the Wolf House, and we spent two months there. Lupa sent us on our way. We ran into several veteran warriors who told us the way and gave us letters of recommendation. Hylla left me here at camp while she went north to join the Amazons. And the rest is history."

Reyna grabbed another handful of jellybeans and picked out all the yellow ones. She turned to Jason with the half-smile that Jason loved. "So, what's your story?"

Jason shrugged and popped two green jellybeans into his mouth. "Don't have one."

"Everyone has a story."

"Mine's not that interesting."

"Tell me."

Jason sighed through his nose. "Well, uh… I don't remember my mom. She gave me over to Lupa when I was only two."

Reyna nodded. Everyone at camp knew how young Jason was when he arrived at camp. One only had to look at the ten lines burned into his skin to know just how long he'd been at Camp Jupiter.

"I had a sister. She was called Thalia. I don't remember a lot about her, but she used to take care of me. She was the one who looked after me day to day. She stitched me up after I tried to eat a stapler-"

Reyna choked on a jellybean. "You tried to eat a stapler?"

Jason went beetroot red. "Didn't you ever wonder how I got this scar on my lip?"

"I thought it was some accident at camp, not you trying to eat a stapler."

"Yeah well, don't tell anyone that. No one else knows."

"Your secret's safe with me. Now, carry on."

Jason shrugged. "There's not a lot to say. I've spent the last ten years of my life here."

"There must be _something_ interesting."

"Not really."

Reyna sighed. "You're not much fun."

Jason smiled and turned his gaze to the slowly setting sun. For a few minutes, the duo sat in silence and ate jellybeans as they watched the sun sink lower and lower on the horizon, slowly turning the valley dark. The lights shone from the windows of the mess hall in the distance.

"Jay," Reyna said, making Jason jump. "Do you… Do you think we have destinies?"

Jason wanted to question where the nickname suddenly came from, but he instead decided to answer her question. "Yeah, I think we do?"

"Really?" Reyna glanced at him sideways.

"I've been a pawn before, and I'll always be a pawn," Jason said angrily, drawing his knees up and wrapping his arms around them. "I've been told by my dearest stepmother herself."

"What?"

"Juno visited me on my seventh birthday. She said dad offered me to her when I was born as penance for cheating on her with my mom. He even named me after her favourite demigod to show how sorry he was." Jason was surprised at how bitter his voice sounded. "On my birthday, she showed up and gave me Ivlivs."

Jason pulled the golden coin out of his pocket and ran his thumb over the picture of the axe. "A few weeks ago, when I disappeared on the way back from Charleston, Juno appeared again. She told me my whole life was leading up to some battle with the Titans, but that I wasn't ready for it yet. She got angry when I said the gods always need someone to do their jobs for them. But, it's true. They can't fight the Titans themselves. They have to get their mortal children to lay down their lives for them because they're too weak."

"Jason." Reyna laid a hand on his arm as the sky thundered overhead.

Jason snorted. "As if he'd kill his own son. He's done pretty well with ignoring me for the last twelve years. Why stop now?" He ran a hand through his hair and turned to Reyna. "You ever spoke to your mom?"

Reyna hesitated for a second before nodding. "I hear her voice in my head a lot, giving me advice and telling me which path to take. She doesn't do it as often these days, though. She knows I need to find my own way. But, if I pray to her, she answers."

"He's never answered," Jason said, glaring up the grey clouds. "When I pray to him, he stays silent. When Smithy and Fiona and Ethan and anyone else pray to their parents or ancestors, they get answered. Not me."

"You're the son of Jupiter," Reyna said. "The most powerful god. He doesn't want to lead you along the right path like a dog. He wants you to lay down the cobblestones."

"I hope you're right."

They smiled at each other. Then, the world shook.

* * *

Jason grabbed Reyna by the arm before she fell off the wall and disappeared down the hill. He couldn't stop the bowl of jellybeans from falling. He watched it roll down the hill, jellybeans flying everywhere. Terminus would have his head for that.

Just as the tremors seemed to stop, they started up again, but with more fury. The fountain of Bacchus trembled, the water splattering on the limestone rim of the pool. Jason pulled Reyna down from the wall and crouched down with her, waiting until the tremors stopped. It took two whole minutes, but they finally stopped. By then, the whole of Camp Jupiter and New Rome was ablaze with lights. In the distance, clouds of black smoke rose into the air from San Francisco.

"Come on," Jason said, hauling Reyna to her feet. The two of them ran back to camp, where the fun times had stopped and the panic was rising. Everyone was still sitting in the mess hall. Well, sitting was the wrong word for it. Everyone was on their feet and was shouting at the two praetors and the eight centurions, who stood at the front as always. Jason and Reyna pushed through the crowd and stood alongside their fellow centurions as the Romans shouted.

"What the hell was that?" a girl shouted.

"We don' know!" Smithy shouted. His voice sounded hoarse, like he'd been shouting for a while. "We jus' don' know!"

"Well, find out," someone else called. Smithy opened his mouth to retort when the ground shook once more. Jason fell backwards into the chairs and Harrison landed on top of him. Fiona slipped backwards, but Smithy caught her before she went down. Jason saw Ethan disappear over the back of the couch he'd been stood on.

As everyone regained their footing, an orange light illuminated the world outside. Smithy vaulted over the praetor's table and ran out of the mess hall door, Fiona, Jason and the rest of the legion hot on his heels. They raced across the camp towards the edge of the perimeter, where Smithy brought them to a halt. The campers were joined by the residents of New Rome, who looked just as confused as the legion did. Jason and Reyna stood side-by-side at the front of the lines, their eyes trained on Mount Othrys.

The mountain had exploded. Or, a part of it had. Lava poured down the slopes and ash clogged the air. Down in the city below, the sounds of sirens and screaming was far too loud. People were panicking, of course. They had reason to. It wasn't every day that your mountain next-door exploded.

"What is it?" Yvonne asked from behind Jason.

"It's Sun," Harrison answered for her, pushing forwards so that he stood on Jason's other side. "Trivia warned me this would happen. He's been growing powerful for centuries. And now, with Saturn and the other Titans on the rise, he's back to full power."

"What do we do?" Jason asked Smithy.

The praetor looked lost. For all his power and leadership skills, Smithy was still young. His eighteenth was slowly approaching and he'd been hoping to go back to the city. Unfortunately, it looked as if he'd have to stay in the legion. Smithy ran a hand through his hair and scratched at the back of his neck, like he did when he was anxious. He took two faltering steps forwards, before he fixed his eyes on the mountain. Then, he turned back to the legion, his face hard.

"I wan' every qualified legionnaire back at this camp," he said. "This includes anyone in the city. Our numbers are down. We need the people. I'm sorry, but your studies an' jobs are going ta have ta wait while we're at war."

He marched over to Jason. "I wan' ya ta take Reyna, Harrison, Rebecca an' Theo from the Second out ta recruit veteran warriors. Or, drop off a summons. Let them decide if they wanna figh' for the place tha' housed them for a large portion o' their lives."

He raised his voice so that everyone could hear him. "We're at war, Romans. We are gonna train harder an' longer. We are gonna be a force even the gods canno' reckon with. Anyone not willin' to be a part o' this army, go now."

Jason turned to face the crowd. He expected everyone to stay, to defend their home and their kind, but, to his surprise, people began to turn away and walk, shedding their armour as they went. He saw several families leave, and understood why they left. They wanted to protect their own families before their camp. They didn't want a child to be motherless or fatherless or an orphan. He understood.

When all those not willing to partake had left, they were left with around two-hundred and fifty Romans to work with. Smithy opened his mouth to address them, but Terminus exploded into existence right before Jason, making the son of Jupiter screech.

"Jason Grace!" the statue thundered. "Why, if I had arms, you'd be choking under their grasp right this second!"

"What the-"

"Jellybeans! All down my hill! A hazard and a mess! What a mess! Clean them, Jason Grace! Pick every single one of them up. And, once you're done, you can measure every blade of grass in the valley."

Jason groaned.

* * *

**A/N: Rate, review, favourite, do your thing!**


	12. First Kiss

**Song: 'Heart Upon My Sleeve' – Avicii ft. Imagine Dragons.**

* * *

Summer at Camp Jupiter that year was hot and sweaty. Marching around dressed in armour was more of a chore than ever. Jason spent most of days chugging bottles of water by the gallon and used his powers over wind to create a nice breeze in the dorms at night. What made things worse were the senate meetings, where Jason had to go since he'd recently been elected as a senator. The senate house was like a sauna. Jason left the meetings dripping in sweat.

Military operations at the camp were at an all-time high. There was someone on watch at all times. There was always a cohort training, even in the dark hours of the night. No war games, no paintball. They had to always be on high alert. But, Smithy did allow downtime. Each cohort got two hours a day downtime. The Fifth's started after dinner. Because of this, Jason never saw Reyna, who was always training when he wasn't. He ended up training with her once or twice, but they didn't speak. They just stabbed and dodged and hissed when they got hit.

On his birthday, Jason sat with his friends as always. He was sporting two black eyes, courtesy of Calvin. The centurion had challenged Jason to a fight that morning, and, of course, Jason wasn't going to pass up on a fight. Calvin caught him in the eye with one of his fists and slammed the butt of his lance into Jason's stomach before smacking it into Jason's face.

Gwen, who'd slid onto the couch next to Jason, asked him to pass the orange juice. Jason reached across for the golden jug of juice and had just handed it to Gwen when Reyna appeared behind the couch and leaned over the back to whisper in Jason's ear.

"Meet me outside after dinner," she said before disappearing into the throng of winds and flying food.

Gwen and Ethan, both of whom had been sitting close enough to Jason, heard Reyna's whisper and grinned at each other. Ethan waggled his eyebrows and Gwen choked on her orange juice while Jason scowled and the others looked confused.

Smithy dismissed the legion an hour later. Jason waited behind outside, his eyes on the sun while he waited for Reyna to meet him. A few minutes later, the daughter of Bellona skidded to a halt beside him, kicking up the dust as she did.

"Hey," she smiled, brushing her hair back from her face. "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks."

"Here." She held a rectangular box wrapped in purple wrapping paper in her hand.

"Reyna, you didn't-"

"Shut up and open it, Jay."

A small smile on his face, he took the box, tore off the wrapping paper and opened the lid. A necklace sat in the box; a leather necklace with a circular silver charm. Engraved on the charm was a lightning bolt crossed over with a torch. The symbols of Bellona and Jupiter combined together.

"Reyna, I-"

"Happy Birthday," the girl said hurriedly, before pecking him on the cheek and running to the barracks, leaving Jason alone and red in the face.

He stared after Reyna until she disappeared into the barracks. He then turned his gaze to the leather necklace and smiled again before slinging it around his neck. His cheek was burning where she had kissed him and his face was tomato red, but he was grinning as he walked towards the Fifth's barracks.

When he entered the dorm, it was dark and empty. He frowned and was about to flick on the lights when light flooded the room to reveal most of the Fifth cohort standing in the small space.

"Happy Birthday!" they shouted as one. Ethan, from his perch in the rafters, threw streamers at Jason. Gwen stepped forwards, holding out a misshapen cake covered in silver icing. The fourteen candles atop were of different shapes and sizes.

"Make a wish," Gwen said, holding out the cake. Jason thought for a moment before he blew the candles out. The cohort cheered and surged forwards to get a slice. Ethan kept throwing streamers at people until Dakota made a lasso, which he then fastened around Ethan's foot. He pulled the son of Victoria down from his perch and Ethan landed on top of Jason, which was uncomfortable to say the least.

Cake slices were passed around and Bobby managed to tune the radio in to a classic rock station. The night was one of the best Jason had had in a long time. It was made even better when Dakota sneaked several crates of Mountain Dew from the kitchens into the dorm. Needless to say that no one went to sleep before 1:00am.

* * *

Three days later, Jason's wake-up call was Ethan playing 'Party in the USA' as loudly as possible in Jason's ear. Needless to say, Jason shouted out and flailed madly. He punched Ethan in the face, giving the kid a nosebleed that took a whole ten minutes to stop. Jason didn't bother mentioning that Ethan still had smudge of blood on his cheek when he was cleaning up and Ethan spent the whole morning wondering why people kept staring at him.

In honour of it being the Fourth of July, the camp was decked out. Jason saw numerous American flags alongside the banners of camp. Harrison and Ethan jumped from roof to roof – in both the camp and the town – fastening buntings to the corners of buildings. Dakota had originally been helping Ethan, but he fell from the roof of the barracks and was caught by Aquila just in the nick of time.

He heard at least eight different versions of 'Party in the USA' before Smithy banned the song full stop. The smell of food wafting from the kitchens was so intoxicating that it sent Jason dizzy the first few times he passed by. At one point, Jason was asked to help out in the kitchen by Millie the daughter of Ceres and spent an hour buried up to his elbows in cake batter. He emerged coated in flour, batter and icing with a long streak of strawberry jam in his hair. An aurae had started flirting with Jason whilst in the kitchen. Another aurae got angry and the two of them started to fight, and Jason had tried to get in the middle of stop them fighting. After the fight, Millie decided it'd be best if Jason helped somewhere else.

So, he helped Gwen and Wyatt, also a child of Ceres, with setting up the mess hall for a movie marathon that night. They arranged the couches and bean bags around small wooden coffee tables that held sweets and empty golden goblets. It had been unanimously decided by the cohort that they would watch _Independence Day_ first as a joke before watching a selection of Disney movies that included _Mulan_, _Treasure Planet _and _Atlantis._

After a quick trip to the baths, Jason helped Ethan to prank Dakota by pouring a barrel of jam on his head from a roof while he tried to chat up Gwen. That resulted in being chased around camp by the angry son of Bacchus and getting two new bruises on his arm. Ethan got the bad end of the stick and had to go to the infirmary, where he grumbled about it being the most violent Fourth of July he'd ever lived through.

Before dinner, Jason trudged back to the dorm to change out of his filthy and stained clothes. He replaced his dust-stained shirt and pants with a fresh camp shirt and a pair of black jeans. Ethan passed behind him as he tried to shave in the bathroom and nudged him in the back, making Jason cut his cheek. He cut himself a further two times by accident, and Bobby spent a good portion of time doubled over laughing when Jason emerged from the bathroom with Hello Kitty plasters on his cheek and neck.

In the mess hall, people took their seats. As per usual, Jason sat at the back with his friends. Smithy and Fiona sat with them, accompanied by Reyna, who looked… different.

Whenever Jason saw her, she was always wearing jeans, boots and a camp shirt, sometimes with armour on top. He'd never seen her wear anything other than that. But, that day, she wore a pair of high shorts and a cut-off top. Her hair, rather than being tied back in a braid, was loose down her back like a waterfall.

"Hey," she said with a smile, sinking down onto the bean bag next to Jason's.

"H-Hi," Jason stammered, his eyes fixed on her. "You look beautiful."

Reyna's face went red and the corners of her lips turned upwards. "Thanks. Nice plasters, by the way."

Jason scowled. "Ethan's fault. I bet he purposely made sure there were no other plasters."

"You bet I did," the son of Victoria said through a mouthful of doughnut as he passed behind Jason's bean bag.

"You better sleep with one eye open, Ethan."

"You can't prank me. I'm the prank master."

"What did I do to piss off the gods so much that they landed me with you?"

Ethan grinned as he collapsed onto one of the couches. "You love me really. We're BFFs!" He even did the little heart symbol with his hands.

"Fruit loops," Smithy muttered and Fiona snorted.

"Do you always act like this?" Reyna asked.

"Get used to it, sweetheart," Ethan said, grabbing a handful of jellybeans from the bowl on the table. "If you're gonna spend time with Jason, be prepared for an attack at all times."

"He's not serious, is he?" Reyna whispered.

"He'd prank anyone, so be careful around him," Jason whispered back.

Reyna smiled and the two of them lapsed into silence as the movie began. They didn't speak to each other throughout _Independence Day _or _Mulan_. When _Hercules_, a camp favourite, came on, Reyna finally leaned over to him and whispered, "I've never actually seen _Hercules _before."

"You have not lived," Jason said, offering her the bowl of jellybeans, which the duo had been hogging the whole time. "You'll love it."

And she did. Reyna barely stopped grinning throughout the film and even shed a couple of tears at Meg's death. Halfway through the film she leaned across again and stated the Megara was the best Disney female ever to exist, save for Mulan. Right at the end of the movie, just as Hercules and Meg had the obligatory kiss at the end of the film, Reyna grabbed his face, turned it to face him and kissed him right on the lips.

It was quick, too quick for Jason to feel anything. Reyna faced the screen again, a small smile on her face. Jason stared at the side of her head for a few moments, caught in a daze before he too faced the screen just as Fiona turned _Atlantis _on. He spent the rest of the night grinning.

He wasn't grinning the next day when he woke up to find the Fifth's dormitory plastered with pictures of him and Reyna kissing that Ethan had somehow managed to take and print. The son of Victoria earned himself a makeover with permanent make-up for that.

* * *

**A/N: Rate, review, favourite, do your thing!**


End file.
